


Desperate Endeavor

by theauthor2010



Series: Desperate Series [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: Dubious Consent, M/M, Prostitution, Sexual Content, rentboy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-05
Updated: 2011-06-01
Packaged: 2017-10-16 02:48:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 28,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/167615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theauthor2010/pseuds/theauthor2010
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU - Kurt calls an escort service and gets a little more than he bargained for in the boy they send.  He may be falling for Blaine but he isn't going to let his life become a "Pretty Woman" type cliche.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Take it or leave it.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from a song called "The Author" by The Academy Is...

Kurt Hummel could not believe himself. He called an escort service. He had really been left with no other choice in the matter. He was one of the most successful designers in New York, but he was also twenty-three and had never had a boyfriend. He had been intimate with other men, of course, but he had never had the time in his climb towards success to make a relationship.

When he was a teenager and just coming into his own he had lived in a place called Lima. Lima had been a nice town, but it was very old fashioned, your good old Midwestern town. He had known that he was never going to find love there and he didn’t even bother trying. After high school, he went off to college but his world was taken by storm by his career; the time that a young man usually spent experimenting sexually was instead spent on beginning to build a fashion empire.

It had always been been Kurt’s dream to become a multi-millionaire fashion designer but relationships did not go along with that success. He was lonely and desperate and not spending another night with only his right hand for company.

There was a knock at the door, light and tentative. He opened it up.

The boy that was sent to his hotel room was absolutely beautiful. He was shorter than Kurt with curls that he was just dying to get his fingers in and the deepest brown eyes. He was dressed simply yet elegantly and looked fantastic in a lavender button down shirt and dark slacks. He looked at Kurt and smiled shyly. His beautiful brown eyes just lit up as he spoke. “Mr. Hummel?” he asked. “My name is Blaine.”

All doubts that Kurt had about calling an escort service flew so far out of his head that he could no longer reach them.

“Kurt,” he said softly. “Please call me Kurt. You can come inside Blaine.”

The boy walked in and looked around the hotel room. He was definitely curious about the extravagant room that Kurt had rented for the night, but he looked at Kurt with even more curiosity. He was definitely interested in Kurt or at least very good at feigning interest for the sake of his job.

"You're a very well known designer," Blaine said, stating the obvious. "I'm a fan of your work, Kurt."

Kurt didn’t know if Blaine meant what he was saying and frankly he didn’t care. It was pretty obvious that Blaine was really good at creating illusions and making Kurt believe what he wanted, so Kurt acted flattered, even if just to keep up the illusion. “Thank you,” he said, feeling exhilarated by Blaine’s presence but suddenly shy all the same. He may not have been standing on a street corner but the boy was definitely a prostitute and Kurt had hired him for one thing and one thing only. “You’ll have to forgive me. I’ve never done this before.

Blaine smiled. “It’s alright Kurt,” he said tenderly. He approached Kurt and touched his cheek. “We can talk if you like or get straight to more interesting things.” His hand trailed down Kurt’s chest tentatively and his voice deepened on that statement. He slipped his hand into Kurt’s, which was hanging limply at his side. Kurt instinctively tightened his hold on the other man’s hand.

“I’m thinking straight to more interesting things,” Blaine said quickly. “Just tell me what you want.”

“I want to see you,” Kurt said and honestly, it felt like someone else was saying the words. He never really imagined that he would be capable of doing such a thing. Kurt was not a virgin but at the same time he was such a stranger to intimacy. He had also never been the dominant party in a love affair. “I want to see you without the clothes, please.”

Blaine tilted his head and smiled again, obliging Kurt’s request like he was made to do so. He unbuttoned his shirt with steady fingers, slipping the shirt open and revealing his firm, sculpted chest and stomach. Just watching Blaine take off his shirt was enough to get Kurt hard, to make him squirm. Hairy and masculine but at the same time not too buff, Blaine was just the type of boy that Kurt had always been attracted to.

Kurt moaned in spite of himself.

“I’m going to guess that’s a good reaction,” Blaine said sweetly. Kurt found that god, Blaine’s voice was attractive too, soft and melodic even when he was only speaking. “What do you want Kurt? Do you want to go all the way tonight or something else? Anything you want, it’s all about you right here and now.”

Kurt pressed his mouth to Blaine’s in a desperate attempt for some kissing. He just wanted to feel Blaine’s lips, his body. Blaine definitely seemed willing to oblige the sudden switch to actions rather than words and kissed Kurt. Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt, kissing him firmly but in ways he was still like a willing doll. He did not touch Kurt much or do anything that he was not explicitly instructed to do.

“On the bed,” Kurt rasped.

Kurt and Blaine crawled onto the large hotel bed and Kurt slipped off his blazer, followed by his shirt and tie. Blaine smiled, eyes wandering all over Kurt’s chest appreciatively. Kurt lunged at Blaine again, kissing him furiously, hands all over the smooth muscles of his stomach. Kurt knew that he could spend hours tracing Blaine’s abs but all he really wanted to do was fuck the boy into the mattress.

He had been desperate enough to call an escort service after all; all he wanted was a fuck, a very good fuck.

Kurt pressed Blaine back against the headboard and then straddled his hips, undoing his own zipper as he shifted around. He was so damned hard that he needed to get out of his own pants, but instead focused on getting Blaine’s lower half as naked as his upper. Blaine’s pants came off rather easily, followed by the red briefs that revealed his cock, long and hard.  
While Kurt continuously wondered what part of Blaine was play-acting, his arousal wasn’t faked. Kurt touched it gently, just to feel it under his hand.

“Do you have lube and condoms and stuff?” Blaine asked in a surprisingly calm tone. “I have condoms in my pants’ pocket if you need…”

“I got it.”

Kurt had been prepared for this. He had known that he was going to bring some poor prostitute up to his room and fuck him. That was the plan.

He crawled off of Blaine and stripped off his own skintight pants, moaning at the release of that delicious tension. He grabbed the condoms and bottle of lube that he had stashed away in the bedside drawer when he arrived that morning.

He spread Blaine’s thighs and uncapped the lube. He penetrated the boy with one long finger, listening to the delicious broken moans that Blaine was making. Blaine had obviously perfected the moan, looking and sounding broken, wanton, whorish and needy but at the same time, beautiful. Kurt added another finger, stretching that tight hole as much as he could. He then added another, just wanting Blaine to be able to take it all in his small body.

“I don’t need much preparation, please,” Blaine gasped out. “I can take it. It’s all about you Kurt, you don’t have to be afraid of hurting me.”

Kurt slipped down his underwear as well.

Blaine eyed his erect member with a big stare. “Ah, I see why you went heavy on the prep,” he eased, eyes still sparkling.

Kurt finished and removed his fingers from Blaine’s tight heat. He knew how good the boy was going to feel when that tightness was around his dick instead. He breathed deep and pressed another kiss to Blaine’s lips, wrapping the boy’s strong legs around his waist. Blaine moved them higher, very strong, and groaned before desperately beginning to plead with him.

“Please Kurt,” Blaine said, sliding his fingers over Kurt’s shoulders. “I want you to take me.”

Kurt obliged, pressing up against Blaine so just the tip of his erect cock slid over the wet hole. Blaine shuddered and Kurt began to press it inside. He moved slowly, giving the boy plenty of time to adjust to it, though he was sure Blaine had taken a big one before. He slipped inside, inching slowly until he was pressed up as tight to the other boy as he can be. Blaine moaned pathetically and opened up his half lidded eyes.

“That feels good,” he said. “Please, you can move.”

Kurt was absolutely sure that the young prostitute had never really dealt with someone who cared about his wellbeing, though he did not understand that. How could he not care, at least slightly, about the young man writhing underneath him? He began to move, a slow rhythm that sped up quickly. He hoisted Blaine’s legs a little higher to be able to fuck into his body deeper.

Kurt lost control a little, his rhythm staggering as he moved in and out.

Kurt groaned, feeling as though he was so close to coming already. He held back as long as he could, not wanting to come off as a desperate teenage boy with problems who hasn’t had sex in years. He wanted to maintain his control.

He came fast anyway, unable to keep up the illusion of total control. His face reddened but his premature ejaculation issue did not erase the blissed-out look on Blaine’s face. Blaine groaned desperately, his erection brushing Kurt’s stomach as Kurt rode out his orgasm. Once Kurt managed to breath, he reached down and curled his fingers around Blaine’s leaking arousal, bringing him off slowly.

Blaine came with the cutest surprised expression on his face.

“You didn’t have to…”

“That’s okay.”

“That was amazing Kurt.”

Kurt nodded. It was pretty amazing. He looked to Blaine and smiled some, gently. “Let’s rest for awhile,” he said.

Even though Kurt had paid Blaine for much more than one brief passionate sexual encounter, he could not bring himself to do much else then holding onto Blaine for the rest of the night, coming down from the high of passion.


	2. Tuesday

It was absolutely astonishing to Kurt how fast “I’ll never do that again,” turned to “Hello, is Blaine available tonight?”

In the days following his brief bout of passion with an escort Kurt could not stop thinking about it. He knew that it had been a foolish mistake that he could not repeat. He was just not the kind of guy to hire a prostitute, loneliness be damned. Yes, he had sex with him, but he had also spent the rest of the night cuddling him, pretending that there was a relationship or at least a fling behind all of their affection.

He vowed not to call the escort service again, he really did. He was too nice of a guy to hire a prostitute and it left him with a sick feeling in his stomach.

Then, Tuesday happened.

Everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong. His assistant Brittany had made a dire mistake on her paperwork and every bit of fabric Kurt had ordered was now on backorder. His deadline for his latest project was also moved up two weeks. He was in a bad place and by the time he closed up to go home he was ready to kill someone.

The thought crossed his mind once or twice, honestly, but Brittany was a sweetheart and Kurt loved her like a sister. He could never fire her, despite her being a little bit on the slow side, especially now that she and her long term girlfriend were expecting.

He had spent the whole day yelling. “Please Kurt,” Brittany had said quietly, looking incredibly guilty. “Go home and get some rest. I’ll handle the rest of the mess with Mr. Johansen, I promise. I won’t mess up again.”

Kurt had gone home and straight to his phone. He had gone straight to his phone, called and asked for Blaine. This time, he gave his home address. He was a fashion designer, not the pope. It didn’t matter if he asked the adorable prostitute to come to his front door; nobody would think anything wrong or suspicious of it. In fact, maybe the news outlets would run that he finally had a boyfriend so that he would stop being called the bachelor gay fashion icon.

He waited.

When Blaine arrived, he looked more gorgeous than he had before. Kurt swallowed and held his breath. “Hi,” he said, letting it all go in one long exhale.

“Thank you for calling again,” Blaine said, his tone so humble and sweet that it nearly melted Kurt on the spot. “What is it that you want?”

“I want…you,” he mumbled quietly, feeling surprisingly vulnerable.

The last thing in the world that he expected was for Blaine to drop to his knees in front of him with a cheeky, confident grin. Blaine had the most gorgeous smile that Kurt had ever seen on a man. Blaine undid Kurt’s jeans, making Kurt practically squeal out loud. It seemed so wrong to jump into the sexual without any sort of formality.

“I already know you,” Blaine comforted, pulling his jeans down to his ankles in a skilled motion. “Just shh, enjoy.”

Blaine slipped his underwear down as well, leaving him room to work. He took Kurt into his mouth and looked up into his eyes. That cheeky grin would just not leave his eyes, even as he got to work, using his tongue along the head before taking Kurt all the way into his mouth like an expert. He swallowed Kurt down, hand on his thigh, stroking lightly as he kept the suction light and low until Kurt was moaning.

“Guh,” Kurt grunted. “Blaine.”

He grabbed the boy by the hair, fingers wrapping into those delicious curls he had stared at the moment they met. He clung to the boy by the hair but didn’t have the strength to pull or move him. Blaine moved up and down on him, continuing that slow stroking of his thigh as he did things with his tongue that Kurt didn’t know were possible.

When he came he was sure that his brain left him through his dick. He stood there when Blaine pulled off of him with a tiny sound, gaping like an idiot. “I…”

Blaine winked.

“Overwhelmed?”

Kurt nodded. “Come…room…drink…”

He repositioned his underwear, kicking off his pants. Yes, he was a mess but yes, he also needed a moment to regain his capacity for coherent thought.

When he arrived in his room, he poured them both a drink from the liquor cabinet. He slid a glass over to Blaine. “You’re…amazing at that,” he said quietly, looking the boy over.

Blaine shrugged a little and downed his drink in one long gulp. “Thank you,” he said. “I try my best.”

After a few moments of finishing another drink, Blaine spoke again.

“I didn’t expect to see you again,” he said to Kurt, honestly.

“Why?”

“You’re simply too sweet to be dealing with prostitutes.”

Kurt blushed a little bit and smiled. “I don’t know about that,” he said, pretending to be affronted but he had been thinking the same thing beforehand. He was not the kind of guy to do this but he wanted to. “I had a bad day. I couldn’t forget you and I and how we were the other night and I figured calling you would make things better.”

Discomfort could not even begin to describe the look on Blaine’s face. His face scrunched up and he looked sick to his stomach, but the look vanished in less than a second.

“What happened?”

“Nothing really important,” Kurt said seriously. “My assistant made some mistakes that really threw us off. The whole day was messed up and I didn’t know what to do.”

“Well what do you want to do now?” Blaine said, smirking a little bit.

Kurt stammered. It was so strange, being put in the position that he was asked what he wanted to do.

“Kurt, do you ever have trouble giving orders at work?” Blaine asked, smiling sweetly. He then leaned forward and kissed Kurt gently but passionately on the lips. Kurt could taste himself on Blaine’s tongue. He groaned.

“N-no.”

“Then go for it here.”

“Get on the bed, hands and knees,” he gasped. It was mostly the challenge that made him want to do this. He was never that good when challenged. He freaked out a little bit and jumped to control.

Blaine seemed to enjoy that he challenged Kurt and crawled up onto the bed.

Kurt crawled up from behind him, undoing his pants and pulling them down. He wasn’t wearing underwear. He pulled them down with some ease but left them around his ankles, just because that was hot.

The dominant streak took hold and Kurt groaned softly. “C’mon,” Blaine teased.

Kurt leaned over and ran his hands over the flat of Blaine’s stomach, tracing his fingers over the firm and well-sculpted muscles. It felt good. Blaine tensed up under the touch, wobbling a little bit on his hands and knees.

Kurt pulled the lube and condoms off of the bedside table, running it over his fingers, warming it for a moment before preparing Blaine. Blaine had teased him last time about taking too long to make sure he was ready and prepared and Kurt didn’t make any real effort to do so this time. He made sure that Blaine was slick inside and that his own condom covered erection was slick enough and that was that.

He only fumbled with the condom for a second too.

He pressed into Blaine in a long thrust that made the young man groan in surprise. It was obvious he had hurt him, so Kurt stroked his back as a bit of a reward. He settled all the way inside of him and then began to thrust deeply, gripping that gorgeous – fucking gorgeous – hair of his.

He pulled his hair as he began to move in and out of him. He leaned down and bit his neck lightly.

Blaine fell forward on his arms but his knees still supported him and raised his ass in the air, so Kurt didn’t stop.

It was rough, passionate and even better.

“God, fuck, amazing…”

He had never come so hard and Blaine came too, without even a hand on his dick. All it had taken for Blaine was to press into the mattress, hump hard against the fabric.

When Blaine left the house, Kurt had a pang of instant regret. He didn’t want that to happen again, for real this time.


	3. Take me

"You're sad Kurt," Brittany said seriously, stopping in front of Kurt’s desk and perching on it, looking him over with a concerned expression on her face. She appeared to be torn between sadness and confusion. Kurt didn't understand what it was about Brittany Pierce sometimes. She could be completely dense and clueless to the world but then she turned around and was a better and more perceptive friend than anyone else he knew.

"I'm not sad," he said and he wasn't exactly lying, either. He wasn't sad. He was just confused. He had sex with a prostitute twice and he could not stop thinking about doing it again. He was a sick, sad little man who wanted to have sex with Blaine again and again until he absolutely went into debt over his obsession.

"I just did something stupid and it messed with my head."

"I do stupid things all the time," Brittany mumbled. "You know Kurt, sometimes I worry that I'll be a bad mom to the baby but Tina always tells me that I have to have faith in myself, so maybe you just have to have faith in yourself, Kurt."

"You're not going to be a bad mom," he said, taking her hand in his and giving her his best smile. "You're the sweetest girl I know and you have a mother's heart. You and Tina will be fantastic."

"Okay."

"I just made a silly mistake," Kurt admitted. "I slept with someone I shouldn't have. He's a prostitute."

"Oh wow," Brittany said, her eyes growing bigger. "You have to rescue him. I saw a movie about prostitutes one time. This girl was a prostitute and she got beat up really badly and she was bloody and hurt and what if he's hurt? You can’t let your dream boy get hurt, Kurt.”

"He is not my dream boy by a long shot and I don't think he's that kind of prostitute, “Kurt mumbled.”I mean I called an escort service that was a little more...high end then your street corner hooker..."

"Okay," Brittany mumbled, obviously not understanding what he meant.

“I don’t really want to call him again,” Kurt said seriously. “I just felt so alive the two times that we were together. I want to feel that again.”

“You haven’t been alive in a very long time Kurt,” Brittany said seriously.

Her words made him feel absolutely sick to his stomach. She was always so perceptive at the right times. He nodded, knowing that she was right. He had been living a lie for awhile and was not truly alive. “Should I call for Blaine again tonight?” he asked, hesitantly.

“You kind of have to,” she said.

“You should go home Britt,” he said, trying to think about what she was saying to him. “Tina is probably really missing you at home and I am just going to clean up before I go home.”  
She smiled, softly. “Thank you Kurt,” she said, before getting up and heading to leave

He waited until she was gone before he picked up the phone again. “Hello, this is Hummel,” he said, going by his last name. “Is Blaine available tonight?”

They told him that Blaine was currently unavailable but he would be before the night was over. “Alright,” he mumbled. “Send him to my place as soon as he’s available.”

Kurt then went home to meet him there. He knew that he was dealing in a slightly devastating and undoubtedly expensive obsession. He got home and changed his clothes. It took awhile for Blaine to arrive. He mentally berated himself and did some much needed work while he awaited the escort’s arrival.

He was so stupid, why was he doing this, was he deluded, this stuff did not work out in real life…

When Blaine arrived, he looked as though he was completely exhausted and very hastily cleaned up. Closer examination revealed that he was banged up too, slight bruising and redness on his face. He averted his eyes when Kurt got too close.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Rough day,” Blaine responded.

“What do you mean, rough day?” Kurt asked quietly.

“It’s nothing,” Blaine snapped quickly, dismissing Kurt. “I have to ask Kurt, why do you keep calling me?” His expression softened a little but Blaine still seemed cold and distanced from the boy standing next to him. “The agency’s roster is full of beautiful boys. Doesn’t a guy like you usually get interested in some variety?”

Kurt shook his head, wondering exactly what kind of guy he was. “I’m just drawn to you.”

Blaine did not seem happy with that. Kurt reached over and touched his shoulder. Blaine flinched. He was definitely a bit sore from whatever he had been doing. “Do you want to go upstairs and take a bath with me?” Kurt asked, gently. “I think that might feel good, right?”

Blaine nodded slowly.

Kurt took Blaine upstairs. His bathroom was one of the few rooms in his home that showed the luxury usually connected to someone with his wealth. It was big, accented in colorful yet subdued porcelain. The bathtub was pretty much hot-tub style, round and with plenty of room for two men to share the space. Kurt had all kinds of bath products on the shelf near the bath tub and there was a soft smell of lavender permeating through the entire thing.

Blaine blinked and Kurt saw the “woah,” on his lips.

Kurt could definitely see the joy and surprise in his eyes. “I have to admit,” Kurt said, “that when I became wealthy, the first thing I did was created a luxurious bathroom. I like my little comforts and pleasures, I guess.”

Blaine chuckled, “I’ll say.” Their eyes met and Blaine shrugged. “I told my parents that we needed to make things homier when I was a kid, but I would have definitely gone for the luxurious bathroom idea. I mean…I mean yeah, if I was wealthy like this then I would do the same Kurt.”

Kurt found his statement a little bit curious but did not press. He drew the bath and then very quickly started undoing the buttons on Blaine’s shirt. He slid it down the boy’s shoulders slowly, his hands running over his chest as he let it fall. Blaine took his cues like an expert, touching Kurt and removing his clothes as well. Kurt found that it took the entirety of the time the bathtub was filling, just because he and Blaine kept getting distracted by parts of each other’s body.

Kurt noticed light bruising on Blaine’s body that he had tried and failed to hide. He got into the bathtub, crooking a finger and gesturing for Blaine to join him. Blaine did so as Kurt turned off the water spout, wincing and groaning as he did so.

“You’re a little banged up,” Kurt whispered, as his hand slipped under the water, along Blaine’s thigh. He pulled Blaine up into his lap as he sat back on one of the side seat levels. Blaine’s legs wrapped around his waist and they kissed, Blaine obviously trying to distract him.

“I’m fine,” Blaine murmured.

Kurt grabbed his favorite smelling soap and the bath sponge and lathered it up. He flicked some of the soap suds at Blaine’s cheek, while rubbing his hand down over his back, his legs, his chest, his backside. He had such a nice body to touch. Blaine wasn’t shy about touching either, running his hands over Kurt’s smooth skin.

Kurt rinsed the soap off of Blaine and moaned when Blaine did the same to him. “See how much good that does?” he asked, leaning into his neck.

Blaine nodded.

Kurt picked Blaine up and Blaine shifted enough to sit on the side of the tub, legs dangling in. He was all exposed, all gorgeous. “Kurt, what are you doing?” Blaine asked, shifting a little bit. He was uncomfortable being exposed in that way; even after all the intimacy they had shared in the past two sessions.

“I just wanted to look at you,” he said, climbing out of the bath tub and grabbing one of the large towels, laying it down. He pressed Blaine back against it, attacking his lips. Blaine moaned, lips parted as Kurt’s tongue delved deep. He didn’t think when he was with Blaine because it would drive him crazy.

As much as Kurt wanted to be buried inside of Blaine, all he could think about was the friction of their wet bodies sliding against each other and how good it felt. He had never really felt as good as he did when his body made contact with Blaine’s. He thrust against Blaine’s thigh and Blaine pressed back, hard and needy. He ran his hands down Blaine’s back, to his backside, which Kurt cupped and pulled at desperately, pushing Blaine against him.

“God, Kurt, you’re going to make me…”

“That’s okay I wanna,” he said, desperately thrusting his hips against the young prostitute’s. “I want to make you come and scream and all those beautiful, beautiful things you do.”

It didn’t take long for Kurt to come just from thrusting against Blaine’s thigh. He was going to have to make sure he didn’t catch his stepbrother’s premature issues after all these years. He giggled at the thought, but he knew that he only came so fast because it was Blaine. God, Blaine was perfect. Blaine controlled Kurt’s sex drive with some kind of supernatural ability, he was sure. He had so much control even if Kurt was running the game.

The mess on his own hip and stomach, coupled with the “oh god please,” from Blaine made him smile even more.

“Well that was a waste of a clean up,” Blaine chuckled and god, his smile. He had the most beautiful smile that lit up his brown eyes.

Kurt was falling, just a little.

After they cleaned up (again), Kurt took Blaine to his bedroom, where Blaine instantly side eyed the baby stroller full of gifts that he was giving Brittany and Tina at the baby shower. “Something you’re not telling me Kurt?” he asked playfully. That smile hit his eyes again and Kurt went a little weak in the knees. He was absolutely, positively pathetic.

Kurt rolled his eyes.

“My assistant and her girlfriend are having a baby,” he said, smacking Blaine playfully. “Their shower is next week.”

“You really are something else Kurt,” Blaine mumbled, his hands slipping over Kurt’s thigh and dragging him closer by the hips. “Our bath time fun was nice but I want to be fucked into the mattress before tonight’s over. Do you think there’s a possibility of that happening?”

“I believe in possibilities Blaine,” Kurt said, glancing at the clock. He ran his hands over Blaine’s chest, once again feeling the muscles he loved. He tickled him. Blaine flinched away. “After tonight is…is done, where are you headed?” he asked.

“Home,” Blaine said seriously. “Usually they don’t send me anywhere after I deal with…a certain client, but you seemed so insistent.”

“If you want, after we…you know, you can sleep here.”

Blaine paused for a minute and shook his head.

“It’s cold ouside,” Kurt argued.

“Okay, just please take me Kurt, then we’ll see. I just need you to take me.”


	4. What is my life?

Kurt did not expect Blaine to be at his side when he woke up but there he was. His hair was messed up, still wet, curly and plastered to his face. He was snoring, just slightly. It was the cutest thing. His left fist clutched at the blankets tightly. He was so pretty and yet so tragic to watch. Oh god, Kurt’s life was really becoming the cliché that he had been afraid it was. He was absolutely drawn to a prostitute.

“What is my life?” he asked aloud, getting up to make some coffee. Coffee was an absolute necessity.

When he came back, Blaine was less tightly wound up. He was awake, looking around him confused. “Hi,” he mumbled, when Kurt walked into the room. “I probably shouldn’t have stayed here. I’m sorry about that.”

“Did you forget the part where I asked you to stay?” Kurt asked, getting back into bed and setting the two coffee cups on the bedside table. Blaine scrambled a little bit, putting his underwear back on at least. He seemed so nervous, so jittery. It hurt. Kurt handed him a cup of coffee and gestured for him to relax. “I made you coffee in case you woke up. I know that I can’t survive without.”

“Thanks.”

“Are you going to have to leave?” Kurt asked, trying to hide the fact that just saying those words pained him. “I mean, I’d really rather you stayed awhile so that I could, you know, talk to you, but if you have to leave for any reason.”

“I probably won’t get a call today,” Blaine said quietly. “I usually get put out of commission for a couple days after he calls, so I can stay, but if you’d like me to leave, just say so and I will.”

Kurt shook his head and took a drink of his coffee. “Last night was amazing,” he said quietly. It was awkward as hell but that was the only thing he could think of to say. Once again, Blaine had absolutely blown his mind. “I’ve never felt anything like that in my life.”

“Neither have I.”

They could barley look at each other, both of them staring out in front of the bed. Kurt wanted to practically drown in his coffee cup and ask himself why he had bothered to ask Blaine to spend the night. It was the stupidest thing he could do and he knew he wasn’t hiding the fact that there were feelings involved now. He was probably making the other boy extremely nervous. The elephant in the room was that Kurt cared about Blaine and Blaine knew it.

“I know you want to ask me questions,” Blaine said, after at least fifteen minutes of awkward silence. “Can we get up and go to a table or something though? I don’t want to talk about this in your bed.”

Kurt got up and Blaine put on his shirt. He led the other man to the kitchen, where he sat up at the counter bar. Blaine joined him, still holding tightly to the coffee cup in his hands. Kurt refilled his own cup and poured some more for Blaine. “What do you think I want to ask you exactly?” he asked, tensely.

“You want to ask how I became a prostitute,” Blaine said, finally meeting Kurt’s eyes. “I don’t know how comfortable I am answering that question, but for some reason I feel that I can’t deny you if you do choose to ask.”

“How did you become a prostitute?”

Blaine smiled, not expecting that one. “You’re something else Kurt,” he said. He stilled himself, taking a deep breath and looking around in disbelief. “I don’t have a typical prostitute’s tale of woe, alright? I wasn’t born into a poor neighborhood where I starved and whored myself out to get by or anything. That’s far from the story.”

“You said your parents were wealthy last night.”

“I was afraid you’d caught that,” he mumbled. “Yeah, I was born to a pretty affluent family in Ohio.”

That made Kurt pause and look Blaine over.

“Where in Ohio?” he asked. “I came from West Ohio.”

“Westerville.”

Kurt’s eyes got a little bigger when he said that. “I came from Lima. I wanted to go to school in Westerville, Dalton Academy, but my family could never afford to send me there.”

“I went to Dalton.”

It was definitely frightening to Kurt how all of these coincidences and parallels between their lives were beginning to develop. It was like this meeting was something destined. Oh god, he really was becoming a walking, talking cliché thanks to the beautiful boy next to him. Everything was becoming like something out of one of those oh-so-amazing tales of romance that Kurt was addicted to. “That’s…amazing,” he mumbled. “I heard that they had this like, zero tolerance policy on bullying and it seemed like a dream to me. I was b-badly bullied in high school.”

“So was I,” he said. “The bad bullying I endured was why I ended up transferring there. Of course, if my parents put two and two together about why I was being bullied, I would have never seen the inside of Dalton’s halls either.”

“Were you bullied for being gay?” Kurt asked, quietly.

Blaine nodded quickly.

“Blaine, I have to ask,” Kurt said, feeling guilty for the fact that he did.

“My parents were never okay with my being gay,” he said. “You know what; maybe this is your tragic prostitute story, but just with another angle. At first they tried the ignore-it-and-it-will-go-away method and that worked until I was seventeen. They couldn’t ignore it when I had a boyfriend. It humiliated them. They had a lot of homophobic colleagues and associates. They said that they’d let me finish at Dalton to save face and not look like parents who kicked out their underage kid but when I turned eighteen I was on my own.”

Kurt held a hand over his chest.

“Yeah,” Blaine said chuckling a little. “This was when pride ended up being my ruin. I had nobody and I knew that the second I turned eighteen my life was over, so I dropped out of Dalton halfway through my senior year and moved to New York. Dumbass, right? I mean, if I had let mommy and daddy pay the tuition for one half of a year at least I’d be a high school graduate and have the ability to get a job, but no, pride and hurt got in the way.”

“I wouldn’t have let them either…”

Blaine shrugged.

“I got to the city and couldn’t get a job because I never graduated. I met the owner of the agency and she seemed nice and helpful enough. Really, I should shut up and stop complaining. I eat, the agency screens for STDs and stuff and well, I have a place to stay.”

Kurt could see the bitterness radiating off of Blaine in waves.

“Now you have my sad story,” he told Kurt. “I want yours. I’m going to take it that your coming-out story was a little less tragic.”

Kurt felt guilty, even before he spoke. “I was s-scared to come out,” he said honestly. “It turned out a lot better though, yes. My d-dad didn’t understand much about being gay or what it meant but he turned out to be amazing to me.” He hated that he had to tell Blaine that his coming out was good when it had ruined the other man’s life.

“That’s great,” Blaine said and Kurt was surprised that he was smiling. “The world needs more men out there like your father, I think. Kids should not have to be afraid of being true to themselves. Or else they turn into married closet-cases who shove around whores to get their kicks.” Blaine winced, shaking his head from side to side and clamping his lips shut as if he were trying to get himself to shut up and stop talking.

“So, that was the rough night you were talking about,” Kurt mumbled.

“I should probably go Kurt,” he said quickly. Something seemed to snap into place, change in Blaine in that moment. He jolted upright. “I really enjoy talking to you but this is probably a violation of pretty much everything I do. I have never been attached to a client and I most definitely have never stayed after the designated hours to talk about my sob story. I really am not sure what’s going on and I don’t like it Kurt. I am really, really uncomfortable right now. I’m sorry.”

Kurt followed Blaine into the bedroom, where the boy found his pants. He pulled them on and looked at Kurt with desperate eyes.

“Blaine,” Kurt said.

“You really shouldn’t call the agency anymore Kurt,” he said, sincerely. “I meant what I said that time when I told you that you were too nice for this. It’s a pretty dark world even if it is the high end of the prostitute scale and I’m on contract to be a part of it for at least another couple of years. You have this amazing life, friends you care about and it’s stupid for you to get caught up in this. You don’t need this to get by.”

“But Blaine…I…”

“Plus, I can’t imagine it would be good publicity for you if the media found out that the acclaimed designer Kurt Hummel was calling for high class hookers. You know what that does to people in the spotlight. It ends up being a total downfall for them and I would rather not be anyone’s downfall but my own.”

“Blaine I have…”

The boy smiled a tense, forced smile. “Thanks for the coffee and the bed Kurt. I’ll see you sometime again maybe.”

Before Kurt could work his objections in the form of “I care for you,” Blaine was gone. He sat back at the table and grabbed his phone. He toyed with it for a moment before he hit the speed dial for his office.

“Hello, the offices of Kurt Hummel.”

“Hey Britt. It’s me. I’m going to be a little late to the office but I am on my way.” He wanted to tell her more but instead just sighed, somewhat dramatically.

“Did you sleep with the prostitute again, Kurt? Tina said that it’s probably not a good idea.”

“I’ll talk to you when I get there. Love you sweetheart.”

He groaned and put his head in his hands.


	5. Reflections

It took Kurt several hours to get into the office. His head was just not screwed on right and all he could do was think about Blaine. He had learned a little bit about the boy and how he had become a prostitute and it had only functioned to make him fall harder and deeper in love with him. He was an absolute wreck. This was not supposed to happen to someone like him. He was someone who was powerful and in control of his emotions.

“Kurt, you look horrible!” Brittany said, the moment that he walked in the room. Kurt knew that she was telling the truth. He looked and felt like hell and all he could think about was Blaine. He had to get him off of his mind before he went clinically insane. This was just stupid. Blaine was not supposed to mean this much to him.

“I know I do,” he said, wiping a hand over his face. His personal appearance usually meant so much to him but there was nothing he could do then and there about how horrible he looked. He was so hung up on Blaine that breathing hurt. He could not even imagine how much it would pain him to go through his day-to-day routine while he was thinking of Blaine.

“Did you see the prostitute again?” she asked. “Like I told you Kurt, Tina said that it was a really bad idea for you to sleep with a prostitute. She said that you could get a disease or something and I don’t want you to get sick Kurt. Tina is really smart and she knows those things.”

“I know she is Brittany and don’t worry, Blaine and I have been using protection. It’s just like…we talked a lot, you know?” Kurt sat down, knowing that he had a lot of things he could be doing but he had to vent this out to someone and Brittany was always good at listening when he had something to say. “He told me about how he wound up as a prostitute and I realized that I could honestly have wound up in the same situation, if not for the love my family gave me. He was turned away by his parents for being gay.”

“You need to love him, Kurt,” she said, obviously conflicted. He was telling her one thing and her girlfriend was telling her another, so he supposed that made sense.

“He told me to stay away from him,” he said dryly. “He said being around him would only bring me down. I know as well as he did that I’m not going to stay away from him.”

“You can’t help who you love.”

“You’re right,” he said, leaning back in his chair. He did not know how he was going to focus, being so caught up in Blaine. “Do you remember the high school that I really wanted to transfer to?” he asked.

“The one like Hogwarts, yes, I remember. The troll was hurting you and you wanted to go.”

Kurt smiled as she referenced his former bully, Dave Karofsky, as a troll. It was so accurate. “Blaine went there,” he said. “He was right there all the time and I never knew. It seems so tragic. I wish that I knew him then, and then maybe I could have helped him, helped him get through high school and saved him from this.”

He paused.

“Anyway, I need to go get to work, thanks for letting me vent Brittany.”

Kurt went into his office and closed the door. He could not think; he could not focus. Blaine was haunting him and it was making him sick. All he could think about was Blaine and all that he had been through. It made Kurt so absolutely sad and completely thankful for what he had as a family.

Getting no word done anyway, he dialed home.

Carole picked up, making Kurt smile. He really liked his stepmother and was so glad that his father had remarried when he was in high school. “Hi honey,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting a call from you. How are you?”

“I’m great,” he lied. “Really busy but I just wanted to call and see how everyone was.”

“We’re doing great. Finn is over this weekend and it’s been pretty busy down here the last couple of days. We really miss you, you know that?”

“I know you do because I miss you guys like crazy.” It was true. He really missed his family members. They kept him sane for the longest time and his career meant that he had several extended absences from them. As soon as things slowed back down and he stopped hyper-focusing on Blaine, Kurt knew that he needed to go home and see his family. “It’s not the same here as it is back home, not at all.”

“Burt’s glaring at me like I better hand over the phone now,” Carole teased softly. “So I think I best. Take care honey, alright?”

“Of course. Love you.”

A moment later, his father picked up the phone. “Hi Dad,” he said, genuinely smiling. He always missed his father. He and his father had been so close, so codependent when he was young that it was hard to be miles away. “I missed you. Carole said that Finn was over. How’s your weekend been?”

“It’s been crazy,” his father responded. “Finn and I went to a couple of local games, which was awesome. I was missing that. He’s been really busy with school though. You would be so proud of the progress he’s made, Kurt. I know that it’s making Carole so happy that her boy’s really coming through.”

“I always knew that Finn just had to have faith in himself,” Kurt said, happy to hear these things.

He and his father talked for awhile. It was the usual conversation. Burt told his son about family dinners, the shop and Carole and Kurt told his father about New York, the designs that he was coming out with for Fall and Brittany and Tina’s impending baby shower. Out of nowhere though, Kurt had something else to say to his father.

“Dad,” he said, a little uncomfortable because of how sudden the declaration was. “I just wanted to thank you.”

“Thank me? What for, buddy?”

Kurt smiled, cradling the phone to his ear. “Just for being the father you always have been,” he said, his eyes tearing up a little bit. “I just realized recently how lucky I am. If you had not been the man you were to me as a teenager, I don’t know if I would be here today. You gave me strength and courage and self-acceptance, something that not many people in this world are blessed with.”

“Are you okay Kurt?” he asked.

“Yes, just homesick,” Kurt said, which was not a lie, though it wasn’t a whole-truth. “I really miss you Dad. I realized just how easy it would have been for me to fall into a whole different life as a gay young person to who I’ve become today. You get what I mean?”

“Of course Kurt,” he said. “I miss you too. You gotta come down, pretty soon.”

“I will come down to Lima as soon as we release this line. Or better yet, I’ll fly you and Carole in whenever you can get time off from work.”

“I like the sound of that.”

Kurt smiled. “Good dad,” he said, choked up.

“Hey, Kurt, Finn wants to talk to you, is that cool?” Burt asked.

He nodded enthusiastically and then realized he was on the telephone. He laughed at his own stupidity. “Yes. I love you Dad.”

“I love you too.”

A moment later, Finn Hudson was on the phone. Though they had a rough patch as teenagers when their families became joined, they were now stepbrothers and best friends. “Hey Kurt,” Finn said and he sounded very excited to be talking to his stepbrother.

“Hi Finn. Carole just told me about your school work. I am so proud of you.”

“Well, you did tell me all that time. I should have listened.”

“I am always right,” Kurt joked softly. “How are you? How’s Rachel?”

“Well, we’re sort of off-again,” Finn said and Kurt could sense the total exasperation in his voice. “I don’t think that she and I are gonna last, but I’m not really upset about it, if that makes sense. She’s been doing some major theater productions and I’m really proud of her, but I think we’re better off as friends.”

“Only took you five years to figure that out,” Kurt joked.

“Hey!” Finn responded. “Well what about you? Have you found love yet?”

“I’m a bit too busy for that, don’t you think?” he asked. “I just live a life that is far too fast-paced to find love.”

“Oh come on Kurt,” Finn said and Kurt could almost see his stepbrother’s disapproving expression.

“Well I did meet a guy,” Kurt said, refraining from telling his stepbrother that said guy was a prostitute. “Do you know where he went to school? Do you remember when Karofsky was harassing me in high school and I wanted to switch to Dalton?”

“The Hogwarts place?” Finn asked.

Kurt smiled. “Brittany said the same thing,” he said. “Yes the Hogwarts place. Do you know anything about it?”

“I think Mike and Tina had a friend who went there. It was really fancy.”

Kurt nodded a little bit, as Finn didn’t know much more than he did but he would definitely explore the Mike and Tina link. “I miss you Finn,” he said, sighing deeply.

“I’ll be there for Tina and Brittany’s babyshower in two weeks,” Finn assured.

“Oh yeah, I forgot.”

Kurt looked out the window of his office. Shit, he actually needed to start getting work done. “I’ll see you in a few Finn. Bye.” He had to stop thinking and get something done.

He focused as hard as he could. He would get something done now.


	6. Falling in love.

Kurt Hummel was an addict.

It took him one week to cave and call the escort agency again. He knew that Blaine would be annoyed but he needed to see him. He didn’t even want to have sex with him; he just needed to know more about him. He needed Blaine like a starving man. It was making him sick and interfering with his work. If he didn’t at least get some kind of closure he was going to lose his job.

The doorbell rang and he found himself face-to-face with Blaine again. “Hello Kurt,” he said softly. He did not seem at all pleased with Kurt calling for him again. “I’m surprised that you called. What would you like to do tonight?”

The cold detachment in his voice made Kurt a little nauseous, but he carefully led Blaine inside. “I don’t know what I want Blaine,” he said, as they entered the house. He moved Blaine towards the bedroom. Blaine looked at Kurt, his eyes still very dark. “I just know that I couldn’t take your advice and stop calling for you. I don’t care if it’s going to be the ruin of me. I’m falling in love with you.”

He didn’t like the fact that those words came pouring out of his mouth so soon. He wasn’t in love with Blaine. No. That was stupid. He was just curious about the boy who had lived so close to him, lived a parallel life to his and yet had ended up a prostitute where Kurt had achieved all of his childhood dreams.

“You are not falling in love with me,” Blaine said firmly, sitting down on Kurt’s bed and stripping off his shirt, as though the action would make a point. “I am nothing but a whore you’ve grown an attachment to. I think it’s cute, Kurt, so cute, but it is not anything close to love. I don’t like to hear those words. You paid to have sex and I’m here to have sex with you.”

Kurt could literally hear his heart breaking underneath his chest. Blaine was so jaded, so hurt. He could see the pain in his clear brown eyes. He crawled over to the bed next to his and tilted his head upward. He pressed his lips to Blaine and kissed him slowly. He enjoyed the brush of their lips but could not deny the pain underneath the tender kiss. “You have to finish telling me the story from last time,” he said, his voice as demanding as he could manage. “If you finish telling me the story, Blaine, we’ll have sex. I’ll rock your world in ways you can’t imagine and you’ll blow my mind again and again like you have before, but right now, I want to hear the rest of your story.”

Blaine shook his head. “Kurt, there’s no more to tell.”

“You stopped when your parents kicked you out and you ran before you could graduate from high school,” Kurt said seriously. “How did you come to this city and how did you become a prostitute? It’s a simple story and I’m paying you here.”

“It’s not such a simple story,” Blaine responded dryly. “I came to New York because I hoped that maybe my musical talent could overcome the fact that I was virtually penniless. Like most people who come to New York or Hollywood, or wherever they want to go to pursue their dreams I was instantly crushed. I was just some scruffy kid with no background, no connections, and honestly not enough talent to get by. I was homeless in a matter of weeks, running out of money to even pay for the cheap motel rooms I was living in.”

“How did you become a prostitute?”

Blaine sighed and rolled his eyes, rubbing a hand through his hair. “The first time I whored myself out it was by accident,” he said, a self-depreciating smile on his face. “I was lonely, scared to death and the only thing I could think of to do was slip into some seedy bar and pretend I was old enough to be there. Some guy bought me a drink and we started talking. He thought I was a prostitute and I wasn’t even broken yet. I…I didn’t convince him that he was wrong because he was offering enough to give me a couple of nights food and maybe somewhere to sleep. It wasn’t a bad idea, you know?”

Kurt’s heart hurt, just hearing those words come from him. “Oh Blaine,” he whispered.

“I lost my virginity to a man who paid me for it…”

Blaine looked at Kurt and Kurt could see that he was on the verge of tears. It was so horrible. Kurt reached out and took Blaine’s hand. Blaine didn’t pull away but he didn’t respond much to the gesture either. “I felt seedy, gross, taken and dirtied,” he admitted. “So cliché, right? I eventually listened around and found out about the agency. The owner really took to me and it’s been history ever since. I told you that it was a short story Kurt, even if it’s not a simple one.”

“Oh Blaine,” he said, leaning close and then slowly brushing his lips against the other boy’s in a kiss. It was gentle, chaste. “Your first time was taken away from you…that’s so unfair…”

“It wasn’t taken Kurt,” Blaine said, cupping the side of his face gently. “I gave it away because I was scared, hungry and afraid of sleeping on the streets. There’s a huge difference.”

“Not entirely,” Kurt said quietly. “You were forced Blaine and you shouldn’t blame yourself.”

Blaine shook his head but smiled sadly into the kiss. “What about you, Kurt? First time?”

Kurt shook his head a little bit. “My first time was with a friend I had in college,” he admitted. “We’re still pretty good friends but there was no spark, no love. I was a little jaded to the whole idea, honestly.”

“Why?” Blaine asked, as they kissed. It was so funny the way they were, intermingling their kisses with the heated questions.

“I was forcefully kissed by a bully in high school,” Kurt said, slowly. He paused in the kissing as the memory played out on the screen behind his eyes. “He was homophobic, yet closeted. I lost it one day and confronted him about his constant harassment. He turned around and pressed his lips to mine. I was a little jaded to my first time because well, my first kiss, which should have been so special, was completely stolen from me.”

Blaine’s eyes darkened. He then leaned over and kissed Kurt on the lips, harder than before. His hands slipped under Kurt’s shirt and he stripped it off so that the both of them were shirtless, chests pressed tight against each others. Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine and leaned his head into his shoulder. “I’m a firm believer in romance, though,” he said gently. “I believe that there’s one person out there for everyone. I believe in the magic of a kiss, a touch, all those little things.”

He pulled back a little and Blaine pressed him back to the bed, kissing him slowly, sensually. “I want to make you happy,” Blaine admitted, low. “I don’t know why. I haven’t cared about anyone except myself for the last five years. I want to make you happy and romance the crap out of you, but I just…I can’t…”

“You can for tonight,” Kurt assured, quietly. “I want you to give me romance.”

“It’s a lie.”

“Is it?” Kurt asked.

Blaine kissed his neck, sucking at the soft skin there. He slipped his hand down Kurt’s side and into the buttons of his pants, which he undid carefully. “Kurt, can I make love to you?” he asked with a desperate tone to his voice that caught Kurt in the chest. “I never…I never gave that to someone.”

Kurt was surprised at that. “Never?” he asked.

“No,” he mumbled softly. “Some of the other guys who work for the agency have had requests for them to, you know, top, but I never got that. I was scared I would because that’s one thing I haven’t given away to someone undeserving.”

“Please. I want you to make love to me,” he breathed.

Blaine slipped Kurt’s pants off and easily took off his own, leaving them both naked and pressed together. Kurt closed his eyes for a moment, just to take in the feeling of Blaine’s body next to his. He could feel the other boy’s steady heartbeat against his chest. It was one of the most romantic feelings in the world.

Blaine reached over to grab the lube, the condoms, standard fair, but instead of frantically preparing, he set them aside. He continued to kiss Kurt for a long time, just letting their lips drag against each other sensually. It was more about the love then the act.

Kurt winced a little bit as Blaine eventually did prepare him for the act because god, every sense was on fire. It was like he was about a million times more sensitive than usual. He was lit up by all the touching, the caressing, the loving. He was sure that he was glowing, as ridiculously cheesy as that was.

“You okay?”

“Never better – oh god Blaine.”

Kurt generally did not like to bottom when he had sex. It was a result of having one too many lover assume that feminine instantly equaled bottom, but oh god the feeling of it was amazing; he absolutely loved the slow drag and burn of Blaine pressing inside of him. He was ready to cry out, groping at Blaine’s shoulders, scratching lightly with the tips of his fingernails. Blaine moved slowly, almost hesitantly, but it was beautiful.

“Harder,” he said, wrapping his legs around Blaine’s torso. “Please, need a little more…”

Blaine gave him a little more. Kurt realized, with a rush of both fear and excitement that Blaine could not deny him. He wanted this as badly as Kurt did if not more. Blaine was falling too, Kurt knew that.

Kurt came first, when Blaine found the right angle and just pounded into that spot, leaving him breathless and gasping for air. It took awhile after of Blaine rocking slowly for him to come and Kurt just loved that vulnerable, open feeling of already being so shaken, his sensitive body being dragged further.

“I swear to everything I love you,” he mumbled against the man’s shoulder.

Blaine mumbled the words too. “God I love you Kurt,” he said and Kurt pretended not to hear, but he did.

It was a beautiful, magical moment but Blaine left right when he was supposed to again. “I don’t want you to call me anymore,” he told Kurt, before he left, looking him in the eyes, seriously. “I don’t want this moment to ever get jaded by money again. Can you handle that?”

Kurt looked into his eyes.

“On one condition.”

“What?” Blaine asked.

“You have to give me a place I can find you,” he said.

Hesitantly, Blaine nodded. “Bailey’s Bar on 5th Avenue. Hole in the wall. I’m there, a lot.”

Kurt let him go.


	7. You said that I could find you here.

Blaine was sitting at the bar when Kurt walked in. A shudder passed through Kurt’s body when he realized just how often Blaine had to come to this seedy establishment to be able to tell Kurt that was where he could find him. He watched for a moment before he approached. Blaine was hunched over the bar; he was holding onto a glass in his hand like it was some kind of crutch.

The bar was dim, but even though it was dim, Kurt could see his face, clearly. Blaine was bruised again, a round circular bruise underneath his left eye. When he got a little closer, he could hear Blaine rambling to the boy next to him. His ramblings became louder as he became more aggravated. He was drunk.

“He fucking hit me,” Blaine said, shaking his head. “I didn’t think he could fucking hit me. He’s torn me to pieces, fucked me into ground and left me limping but he’s never hit me. I’m out of work for three days and I’m pissed off. I can’t take this anymore. My only consolation is the fact that he’s about two weeks from being broke and outed.”

Blaine kept going on and on and Kurt couldn’t believe that nobody in the bar was batting an eye at his obvious references to what he did for a living. Did anyone care that this young man was rambling about being injured by a man while he was whoring himself out?

“I know that bad shit happens to people peddling out there but c’mon, it’s not like I’m a street corner whore picking up guys in vans. The agency’s respectable at least; why the fuck would they let that NHL washout buy? We’ve got celebrities, politicians and goddamned perfect fashion industry icons calling but this guy, he’s a nobody now. Why do they keep letting him do what he does?”

Kurt stilled himself and sat down in the seat on Blaine’s other side.

“Blaine,” he said seriously.

The other man looked over at him, his face froze and the drunken rambling stopped short, instantly.

“Kurt,” he said, breathing deeply. He looked the way that Kurt felt when he was truly on the verge of having a panic attack. His mouth kept opening and closing and he shook his head, as though shaking his head could make Kurt disappear completely from the room. Kurt could not help the pity that washed over him.

“You told me I could find you here,” he reminded Blaine, since he didn’t seem to understand why Kurt was there. He looked him over and his heart started hurting again. God this was the worst feeling in the world. He reached out and brushed his thumb over the bruise that was forming under his beloved’s eye. It was really deep and it looked almost fresh. He wanted to cry but he kept his strength up and spoke clearly. “What happened Blaine?”

Blaine was calm and much less enraged, but at the same time he spoke like someone who had been drinking and didn’t have their sensors up. “One of my clients is a closeted idiot with a violent streak,” he said, rolling his eyes. “He used to be pretty well off. He had a contract with the NHL and everything but his alcohol and prostitute addiction is pretty much cutting into that. He’s married to this girl, right? She knows he’s gay as hell but what can she do? She’d have to be stupid not to know. He’s always been rough and I’ve always ended up with bruises but I never imagined he’d hit me.”

Kurt shuddered. Something about this story was hitting a familiar nerve but he wasn’t sure what that was. It didn’t matter right then, anyway. What really mattered was taking care of Blaine and making sure that the other boy was safe and brought to safety in one piece. He was not going to let Blaine keep living this way. He was so much better than the crappy situation that life had dealt out to him.

“Blaine, sweetheart,” he said, adoringly. “You can’t keep living this life, you can’t. There’s so much more out there for you. These risks you’re taking are eventually going to catch up to you and I can’t stand the idea of something happening to you. Someone’s going to hurt you, or get you killed, or…”

Blaine jerked away from his touch, suddenly angry.

“What the hell can a whore do with his life Kurt?”

Kurt blinked at the sudden surge of anger and put his hand on Blaine’s back. He could feel his muscles tensing spastically there. He was really tense, exhausted. “I’ll hire you,” he said gently, smoothing out the wrinkled fabric on the back of his shirt. He just wanted to touch Blaine, feel his body again and have his soul, his heart, everything.

“Brittany’s the sweetest thing in the universe, but sometimes she’s slow and forgets things and could use an extra pair of hands to help her out. I’m also giving her a couple of months off at least to spend with Tina and the baby when the time comes. We’ll find a way Blaine, working together. You and I can work together and we can bring an end to this.”

Blaine started crying and Kurt realized he was far too drunk to talk right now. His body shook with tiny, little sobs that nobody could hear over the quiet chattering in the bar. “It’s alright Blaine…” he said gently, looking to Blaine’s other side. The boy that Blaine had been talking to before he arrived seemed to have lost interest completely. Blaine was alone here, except for Kurt. “I’m going to take you home, sweetheart and you’re going to sleep this off.”

“No way Kurt,” Blaine said clearly. “I refuse. I will not.”

“I heard you say you were out of work for three days anyway,” he said, keeping the demanding voice he used for work on. He was Kurt Hummel and he had the power to tell people what was what. When you owned a business that was slowly turning into an empire, you learned how to manage people.

“You’re going to get taken advantage of in this state and I’m not going to allow that to happen.”

He put his arm around Blaine and slowly helped him up to his feet. Blaine staggered the slightest bit but with Kurt’s arm around him did not stumble or fall. “What does he owe you?” he asked the bartender. When the man gave him Blaine’s tab, Kurt paid it off quickly, adding a nice little tip for the bartender as well. He knew that whatever money Blaine had on him, he needed it. He was going to get Blaine out of the mess of his life, now.

It didn’t take long for Kurt to get Blaine into his car and drive him home. The poor guy was half asleep by the time they arrived. Kurt put Blaine’s arm around his shoulders and half-walked, half-carried him inside. He was small but he had always been strong. He carried Blaine up to his bedroom and laid him down on the bed. He gave him an oversized shirt and some pajama pants to change into.

He practically had to help the guy get dressed, sliding the shirt over his head and smoothing out his hair, before stumbling with him to get on the pants. Blaine gave him a sheepish, half drunken smile and Kurt returned it. He was a beautiful person and he deserved more.

He put him in bed, covered him up and was only put to ease when he could sit and watch Blaine sleep.


	8. Finally fulfilled

Kurt didn’t really sleep that night. He did some work that he had been meaning to get done for weeks, continuously checked on the sleeping Blaine and eventually laid next to him in bed, just watching his breath rise and fall. He could not keep his eyes off of Blaine for long. It was around six-thirty in the morning when Blaine’s phone started ringing frantically. It was loud and Kurt had to ruffle around in the other man’s pants, which were laid discarded on the floor, just to find it. He fished it out and turned it off.

Blaine woke up, yawning and stretching. He rubbed both of his eyes and looked at Kurt with an expression that vaguely resembled a kicked puppy. He pouted some, turned around to assess his situation and then looked Kurt in the eyes with a sudden, sharp, almost panicked clarity. “Was that my phone?” he asked softly, his voice still full of sleep. “I need to answer my phone, Kurt.”

“You’re not on call,” Kurt said sharply, calling back his commanding and dominant voice for another round. It definitely got Blaine’s attention because he looked up at Kurt with alarm and surprise in his pretty brown eyes. “You’re in no condition to go anywhere and I am making you stay here today Blaine, so let’s skip the arguments for now.”

Blaine then turned around, shifting a little and instantly groaning out loud. His face contorted for a second and it was obvious that he was in a considerable amount of pain. He rubbed a hand over his forehead and winced, his expressions so vivid and emotional that they caught Kurt off guard. He was starting to notice every little thing that made Blaine who he was. “I can barely remember coming here,” he said softly.

Kurt was honestly not surprised to hear this with the condition Blaine had been in the previous night. “Do you have a headache?” he asked tenderly, brushing Blaine’s curly hair out of his eyes.

Blaine nodded slowly.

Kurt went into the bathroom and grabbed the other some aspirin and a glass of water. He handed them over, watching as Blaine took the medicine quickly. “I’m going to make us some breakfast and we’ll just hang out today, alright?” he said tenderly. He knew that he and Blaine had a lot to talk about but right now he just wanted to help Blaine feel as comfortable as possible. Blaine nodded and slowly walked to the mirror on the vanity next to Kurt’s bed.

“He really did me in,” he said, shaking his head from side to side and running a hand over the bruise under his eye. “He’s getting worse and worse every time and he always calls for me.”

Kurt thought that he heard Blaine mumble Karofsky under his breath, but he pretended not to hear because that was way too much information for either of them to process just yet. He shook it off, pretended that he did not hear it, and then began to rub Blaine’s shoulders. “You can’t go on living like this,” he said softly, rubbing his hands over the smooth muscle. “I don’t know how much you remember from last night but I meant every word I said about hiring you.”

Blaine looked confused. Kurt watched in the mirror as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Kurt reiterated what he had said before. “Brittany’s a little slow at times and I do need an extra set of hands to help me out. I’m giving her a few months off when the baby is born and I could really use someone else…”

Blaine swallowed. He didn’t say no but he couldn’t accept the offer all of the same. He shook his head to make some kind of objection but closed his mouth again a moment later. He opened and closed his mouth and seemed to be very uncomfortable without words of any kind. Kurt leaned over and kissed him on the mouth. Blaine turned the rest of his body around and the two kissed passionately. Kurt pressed his hand to the unbruised side of Blaine’s face and he spent a moment just enjoying the taste of their kiss. It was very sweet, soft and sincere. Within moments, Kurt felt Blaine’s tears against his cheek. He paused and pulled back, seeing the strained look on Blaine’s face and the fact that yes, he was crying. Kurt leaned over and pressed his lips to Blaine’s salty cheek, not saying a word, just kissing his face, doing his best to will the tears away.

“I’m gonna make breakfast,” he said, walking into the kitchen and indicating for Blaine to follow when he was ready. He gave him a tiny squeeze, a half-hug, that he hoped conveyed that he loved him and wanted to make things better for him.

Kurt started pulling out the ingredients for his favorite egg dish and started working. “I want to watch a movie after we eat,” he said brightly when Blaine came into the kitchen, more composed than he was before. “I’ve been working like crazy the last few months and haven’t even watched The Sound of Music in months, how sad is that? When I was a little kid I used to watch it weekly”

Blaine smiled at him, still looking tired and emotionally exhausted. He had stopped crying, for the most part, but he just looked so worn in. “I hope that I’m not taking you away from work,” he mumbled softly. “I know that you have a lot of things to do.”

Kurt shook his head but then reconsidered what he was going to say.

“You have taken me away from work,” he said honestly, knowing that he had made no progress in the weeks since Blaine first graced his presence, “but it’s been the most wonderful thing for me Blaine. I was living for my work, which while amazing is not at all fulfilling. This is very fulfilling.”

Blaine made a face and watched him for a moment, as though the cooking was the most interesting thing that he had seen in his life. “Can I help you any?”

Kurt let Blaine help with some things while he cooked, feeling domestic and happy. It was just wonderful. They ate breakfast after, Blaine complimenting his cooking skills practically every five seconds. It made Kurt wonder with a broken heart just when the last time was that Blaine ate a good meal. He watched Blaine the whole time that he ate, unable to really keep his eyes off of the other boy no matter what he was doing. It was an addiction, just as Kurt had initially feared it was, but this was the first time that the addiction didn’t bother him or unnerve him deeply. It was natural.

When they finished eating, Kurt cleared their plates and they returned to the bedroom. Blaine sunk deep into the blankets, holding them close to himself. “I’m always cold,” he admitted. Kurt then proceeded to snuggle himself as close to Blaine as possible.

They watched The Sound of Music, Kurt quoting it like he had been able to do since he was five years old. They followed it up with a complete musical marathon; both just content to lay curled up together and watch the movie.

“Do you want to take a shower or something?” Kurt asked, after their fourth or fifth movie. Kurt wasn’t counting anymore; he just knew that it was Chicago.

Blaine smiled a brilliant smile. “Why Kurt, do I smell or something?” he asked, teasing.

“No, I just know we’ve been in the same position for hours,” he said, shaking his head. “I also know that you had a rough night yesterday and eh, what do I know?”

Blaine smiled and kissed Kurt’s lips. “I think I will. Plumbing at my apartment is crap. Be back.”

While he was gone, Kurt sunk even deeper into the bed. When he heard Blaine singing in the adjoining room, he started crying. Oh god, he was so in love that it was absolutely, positively pathetic.


	9. Find you.

Kurt and Blaine spent a wonderful day together, but Kurt was not surprised when he woke up bright and early to go to work and Blaine was already gone. They had become so close and Kurt had fallen so in love, but they had so much to work through together, if they ever hoped to become anything more. He hoped that they were strong enough and that he could get Blaine out of the life that he had become so deeply entwined in but at the same time he woke to evidence that it was going to take the determination that made up Kurt’s whole life.

“What am I even doing?” Kurt groaned out loud, as he ran a hand through his hair and immediately launched into his morning routine. It hurt less that Blaine had disappeared when he hyper-focused on something, anything else. He was ready and out the door in record time. He arrived at work forty-five minutes before he had told his staff he would be there and launched into work. It seemed that time did not stop until it was early-evening and he started to get hungry.

Kurt was the best boss ever, naturally, so he went out to get food for himself and the staff members that were still there in the evening. Halfway back to work from his favorite organic sandwich shop, he noticed a few baby things in the window of the boutique next door and of course came back with a secretly wrapped bag of more things for Tina and Brittany’s baby. He had already been taken in by that child and it wasn’t even born yet. The girls had decided on waiting to find out the gender, but either way, Kurt was determined to make it the most fashionable baby in the world.

He came back, apologizing to everyone for taking so long with the food and then he and Brittany ate together in his office. “Britt, what do you think about my hiring an additional assistant? It wouldn’t lose you any money at all. I was just sort of thinking that we could use a extra set of hands here with the business growing.”

“Is it the prostitute?” she asked after taking a bite of her sandwich.

“His name is Blaine, and yes it is.”

Brittany lit up at that. It shouldn’t have really surprised Kurt, Brittany being the special person that she was. “I think that it would be excellent,” she said. “You love him, so naturally, I would end up loving him and you’re a really good boss who pays really well, so, he wouldn’t have to be a prostitute anymore.”

Kurt smiled and nodded. “Thank you Brittany, you’re the best. I’ll tell him as soon as I see him next.”

Of course, three days passed and Kurt did not see Blaine.

He tried to relax, calm down, tell himself that Blaine had a life that didn’t revolve around him, but still he had left without a trace and left no contact for Kurt. Kurt was terrified for him, worried, but life went on. He had work plans and that Saturday, a baby shower to attend.

Kurt arrived at Tina and Brittany’s small house early, one of the first to arrive, he was sure. The moment that Tina let him in the house, he launched at her, fussing over her. The usually small Tina had a completely swollen belly now that she was almost due and she looked sleepy, but radiant. He was certain that she had never looked so beautiful in her entire life. They didn’t lie when they said that pregnant women glowed.

“Oh my god Tina,” he said, as he had not seen the girl for at least two months and she looked so different. His eyes immediately fell on the curve of her stomach as he walked into the house. “You look amazing.”

The girl shook her head. “No way Kurt,” she said seriously, putting a hand on her stomach. “I waddle. I seriously waddle.”

Kurt shook his head.

“You’re glowing, Tina, and I swear I’m not just being stereotypical and overtaken by your beautiful pregnancy either.”

She rolled her eyes and sat down on the couch. “Kurt, you’ve always been one to heap the praises on me,” she said. “I’m just not feeling ‘em right now though, sorry. Between you and Brittany I’ll either get an ego or get thoroughly confused. Sit down next to me.”

He sat down next to her and she patted his knee lightly. “Kurt,” she said cautiously, her voice lowering. She looked around to see if anyone else had come in, but Brittany was in the front of the house with any new guests, so she continued to speak to Kurt in hushed tones. “How are you? Brittany told me all that you’re going through and well, I’m worried about you. You’ve got yourself involved in some dangerous business.”

Kurt huffed a little at the implication that Blaine was dangerous business, but knew that she was right. Tina had been told by her girlfriend that their mutual friend was involved with a prostitute. She sort of had a reason to worry about him. Kurt leaned up and kissed her on the cheek. “Tina, this day is all about you, so I will not have you fussing over me,” he said. “I’m struggling a little bit with the…Blaine thing, but I’m going to make things right. I always do. Trust me. You know that I always do.”

She conceded to his arguing and leaned in and gave him a big hug. He held her close, still marveling over the fact that she had a baby-belly. It was surreal when he thought of the shy, stuttering girl that he’d once known in high school.

Brittany soon joined them on the couch as the guests began to arrive. She had been chatting them all up but she always gravitated right back to Kurt’s side. Theirs was a friendship that would last for the rest of their lives. “I’m glad to see you Kurt,” Brittany said cheerfully.

“Britt, you see me every day,” he said, leaving Brittany only to shrug. Kurt smiled and shook his head. Yep, he and Brittany were going to have this wonderful, perfect kind of relationship for the rest of their lives.

Kurt saw a lot of familiar faces at the baby shower, people he had not seen in a long time. He spent quite awhile talking to Mike Chang. It was a little awkward, considering that Mike was Tina’s boyfriend in high school, but that was in the past and now they were practically best friends. Tina had also named Mike the other godfather to the baby. “Have you ever, ever seen Tina so happy?” Mike asked brightly, his smile reaching his eyes. He was a lot more talkative than he was in high school. “I heard that you were the godfather Brittany picked. You know this means that we both have to be epic godparents.”

“With you and I as the baby’s godfathers, it’s gonna be one lucky child,” he said, grinning at the girls and then back to Mike.

“How have you been Kurt?”

Kurt shrugged, deciding to be as simply-spoken as he could. He could not begin to explain how he had been in a way that wasn’t for the sake of small talk. “I’ve been great Mike,” he said. “How about you?”

Mike shrugged. “Not bad, not bad,” he said. “I’m not running an empire like you but business is nice at the studio. I am pretty much always busy.”

As they sat there, Kurt looking into his plastic drink cup, he thought about what Finn had told him. Mike and Tina had a friend in High School who went to Dalton Academy. Kurt tried to bring the topic up. “Hey, Mike, do you remember that private school in Westerville, Dalton?”

Mike nodded.

“Oh yeah, Dalton. I knew a guy who went there, Wes,” he said. “I met him at a couple of local Asian Society meetings. He was a control freak with a stick up his ass, but he was pretty cool.”

Kurt looked up and nodded. “Did you happen to know a guy named Blaine?” he asked.

Mike looked at him and tilted his head. Kurt could see the wheels going off behind his head. He was thinking pretty hard on it. “I think I do remember a guy named Blaine,” he said. “He’s kind of short, gelled back hair, half- Asian?”

Kurt nodded, figuring that could describe a high-school aged Blaine, possibly.

“I think so. We met briefly and I…like him.”

Kurt knew that he was a pretty terrible liar, but at least this was a half-truth and not an outright lie.

“That’s awesome,” Mike said. “I didn’t really know him or anything but sometimes he came with his mother to events I was at and stuff. I hope you can finally get yourself a boyfriend Kurt.”

Kurt pouted, instantly. He had been hearing that song for years and it was a little bit tiring. He had never really been able to hold down a relationship and everyone hoped that he found one. “Hey, as far as I know you’re single and I’m not trying to hook you up,” he said, teasing. “Are you with someone, Mike Chang?”

“I have had plenty of…erm, lovers,” Mike said defensively. “I just haven’t found the one yet.”

“Same can be said for me,” Kurt retaliated.

A few moments later, Kurt caught a glimpse of his stepbrother walking into the room and approached him, leaving Mike to wander off and gawk at Tina’s stomach. He instantly approached Finn because he totally missed him. “Hi Finn,” he said, immediately pulling the other boy into a hug. Finn wrapped his big arms around Kurt and smiled. “I missed you like crazy, how are you?”

“I’m great,” Finn said, pulling out of the brotherly hug. “How are you Kurt?”

Kurt shrugged. “Not bad, I guess,” he said honestly. He wasn’t sure how much he could tell Finn about the whole Blaine situation, but when they were younger, Finn more than proved himself to be the best brother he could be. Eventually Kurt figured that he would tell Finn what was going on in his life, but then probably wasn’t the best moment. They walked over to the side of the room and Finn stared at Kurt with a confused and yet slightly concerned expression.

“How are things with that guy you told me about on the phone?” Finn asked.

Kurt was honestly proud of him. There was a time when Kurt’s homosexuality was a hot-spot and Finn wasn’t that comfortable with it, but now that they were grown, Finn had no problem talking to Kurt about his interest in men. Kurt winced at the question anyway, though, because he had only told Finn that there was someone he was interested in, not the whole detailed situation they were involved with.

“It’s a long story Finn,” he said. “Not really one that I can tell you here at Tina’s baby shower, but yeah, it’s causing a lot of stress. I really like him but he’s living a dangerous lifestyle and I’m not exactly sure how to get him out of it.”

“Be careful, Kurt,” Finn said, every bit the caring brother. Kurt loved that side of him. He hugged Finn again.

The baby shower was pretty nice. They did a couple of conventional “baby shower” games and stuff and Tina received fantastic gifts. Tina practically squealed at the outfits that Kurt had designed for the baby and he felt proud and both of the girls were over-the-moon at the stroller full of gifts. It was wonderful.

He couldn’t help feel badly though, because his mind wasn’t with him. His mind was wherever Blaine was. He could not wait to get out of the shower and try to find him. He needed to find Blaine as soon as possible.


	10. Learn to love yourself

Kurt had Blaine on his mind when he arrived home after Tina’s baby shower. He had every plan to go home, clean himself up and then head back to the seedy bar he had seen Blaine last. He had never imagined that he would see Blaine curled up on his porch the moment that he arrived home. He started running the second that he saw him there and did not stop until he reached his side and put his arms around him. Blaine was curled up in a fetal position, his head tucked up against his knees. “Blaine!”

Blaine lifted his head slowly. He appeared to be confused, almost as if he was unsure about how he got there. “Kurt?” he asked softly, his voice very childlike. He honestly looked like a child in that instant. Kurt slowly helped him to his feet, putting his arm under Blaine’s. He was hurt but wasn’t showing any signs of the brutal bruising that he had the last few times he had been injured. “It wasn’t even Karofsky…” the boy moaned, clinging as tightly to Kurt as he could. “I’ve been fucked around by Karofsky so many times and he wasn’t even the one to break me. No, it was some seedy politician in the back of a motel room who made me reach the breaking point. How poetic.”

“What are you talking about Blaine?” Kurt asked, taking Blaine up to the door. He fumbled with his keys, having trouble finding the one that opened the door. Even when he did find it, it took him several times to unlock and open the door. Blaine started sobbing quietly and Kurt wondered if he was completely in his right mind. He seemed to be in a different world all together, so angry and hurt and confused.

“Stay away from me, please, Kurt,” he snapped, seemingly unaware that he had come to Kurt and Kurt was the only thing supporting him. He rambled quietly. “I’m going to lose everything and be in so much trouble with the agency because of you. It’s your fault. They’re going to kill me, I swear, they’re going to kill me. I signed a deal to stay with them and now they’re going to absolutely kill me.”

“What happened?” he asked, sitting Blaine down on the sofa.

“I was on a call with this asshole Berkeley,” the other boy said darkly, angrily. His face contorted with some kind of indescribable pain. “He’s some kind of local politician or something. I’ve been on calls with him before and never thought twice about him. He’s got a small dick anyway. I kept thinking about you and how you treat me and love me and are so good to me and watch stupid movies with me. So, this jerk and I are…fucking, face to face and I start crying like a big baby. I couldn’t stop. It was like some horrible, godawful damn had burst and I couldn’t stop crying. I started sobbing while he was in the middle of pounding me into the seedy mattress. It pissed him off. He got rougher and I had a goddamned panic attack and called your name. I said no, I told him to stop. I told him to stop, that I quit, that I couldn’t do it anymore.”

Oh god.

Kurt inhaled deeply and reached for Blaine. Blaine shook his head and pulled away, harshly. “It pissed him off so much,” he said quietly. “He used his belt to tie me to the bed, finished and complained to the agency. I am in such deep shit. It’s your fault. I’m not supposed to love you. I have a contract Kurt that they’re not going to let me out of and I’m so fucking scared. I just want this all to go away so that I can be with you. I just want to be with you for the rest of my life and I don’t want to be secondhand trash that you keep getting when I feel broken and need a pick-me-up. I love you too damned much for this.”

Kurt’s heart broke a little bit as he pulled Blaine into his arms. Blaine just collapsed, folding into the tight hold that Kurt offered. “We’re going to find a way to get you out of this,” he comforted, knowing that if there was a way then he would be the man to find it. “It’s illegal anyway and there has to be a way to keep you safe from them. I’m not going to let them keep you. They’re not going to keep my Blaine.”

“You can’t get involved,” Blaine gasped out sharply, his breath rattling as he did so. He was so afraid. Kurt had never really seen someone so terrified. He was crumbling to pieces. “You’ve been a customer of an escort agency. It’ll fuck with your career Kurt and I can’t do that to you. Please promise you won’t’ get involved no matter what. You can’t. You cannot get involved, ever.”

“Shh, Blaine, calm down,” he said quietly and Blaine calmed down obediently. Kurt was pretty sure that he didn’t have the strength to object, especially when Kurt was as willful as he could be. “Don’t worry about that just yet. I know that we’re both in an uncomfortable situation but I have the power and the influence. I can do anything with this and I will, because I’m me. I’m not going to fail you. I love you.”

“Why?” Blaine asked softly. “Kurt, why do I matter so much?”

“I love you-”

“I know that you love me and that’s something I can barely believe anyway,” he mumbled. “What I mean was, why me? What have I done to deserve you?”

“You saved a man whose life was his work Blaine. You opened up my heart when I didn’t even realize it was closed off. It’s all about you and me okay? This whole story is about us and I don’t care how crappy and clichéd it is. It is amazing. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. It’s always going to be about you and me. I love you and I want to be with you for the rest of my life and we can make a future.”

As Kurt rambled helplessly, he started to take off Blaine’s clothing. He was pretty banged up underneath his shirt but it wasn’t as bad as it usually was. He hoped that eventually he would come and see a day that Blaine wasn’t injured, hurt by some man who only wanted to use him. “I’m sorry you got hurt Blaine,” he said, running a hand down the front of Blaine’s bare chest, fingers grazing the soft skin just under his collar bone. “Don’t want anyone to ever hurt you like that again. I just can’t keep seeing you get hurt, you understand that?”

“I think so…” Blaine said. His hesitance revealed to Kurt that he was unsure, but he was trying his best to learn.

“You matter so much to me,” Kurt said softly, just wanting Blaine to hear and feel every word that he said. “You have to start giving yourself value. You’re an amazing person, a good heart and you make me feel so good about myself and my world. I want to make you feel good.”

He kissed his collarbone, having learned from their nights together that this was a sensitive spot for Blaine. Blaine immediately tilted his head back and moaned. Kurt continued kissing and sucking at the overly sensitive spot, making the boy whimper in confused pain and pleasure. He was starting to slowly learn what made Blaine feel good, something he was sure that nobody else in his life had bothered to learn. He threaded his fingers through Blaine’s hair and went a bit lower, lips running over his chest.

“You have such a beautiful body,” he said softly. It was true. Blaine wasn’t scrawny like Kurt and despite showing signs of his abuse, Blaine was strong, physically. He was so strong even though he was of a small stature and Kurt loved every little thing about him.

Blaine made a small sound, but this time, that sound was not out of pleasure. It almost sounded distressed, a tiny whimper escaping his lips. He looked at Kurt and his beautiful brown eyes widened. He looked scared and confused.

“Blaine, are you okay? What’s wrong? Am I hurting something?”

“No, not at all,” Blaine said, pressing his lips to Kurt’s shoulder and trying to return the favor.

Kurt knew what was going on. Blaine was far too overwhelmed to handle this. Kurt hesitated and pulled back. Blaine did too and they looked into each other’s eyes. Kurt studied Blaine and realized that he was so scared and so hardwired into sexual encounters. Kurt wanted to make sure that Blaine knew that he was never required to have sex with Kurt. Sex with Blaine was wonderful and there was no question that Kurt and Blaine had both loved everything they did so, but still, up until this moment there was a matter of requirement. Each time that Blaine had entered Kurt’s world and they had a sexual encounter, it was paid for.

“What’s wrong Kurt?” Blaine asked, returning the question. “Are you okay?”

Kurt nodded, rubbing Blaine’s shoulders with both hands. “Blaine, you know that I love you,” he said, “but I also want you to know that our relationship isn’t going to be based around the sexual things that we’ve done. You’re never required to be intimate with me. I mean, you’re not some prostitute, you’re the guy that I love and we’re entirely equals, always. I don’t want you to feel like I’m pushing you into sex because that’s what we do.”

Blaine blinked slow, but nodded.

“Kurt, I love you,” he mumbled low, smiling for the first time that night as a realization dawned on him. His eyes, which had been so haunted and full of pain just lit up all of a sudden. “Kurt, if you and I make love right now it’ll be the first time that no money was involved or exchanged. It’ll be the first time that it was just you and I and nothing else in the whole world. Don’t you like that idea? I really, really like that idea.”  
Kurt nodded, smiling. God, he loved the idea of making love face to face with no money in between them to dirty what they were doing. It made him smile too, just the idea of comforting Blaine for the time being and showing him that he was loved and this fight wasn’t over. He reached down and groped Blaine playfully through his jeans. Blaine pressed up against his hand playfully, his smile growing.

“I think I like that idea, gorgeous,” Kurt said, slowly undoing his lover’s pants. “Are you sure you’re not too hurt though?”

“I can’t feel a thing,” he whispered.

Kurt took off Blaine’s pants and noticed that the worst bruises were indeed on his inner thighs. He felt a surge of anger. Blaine had been raped yet again by a man who used him for money and Kurt was livid yet determined to make Blaine feel good again. “There’s no tearing or anything, is there?” he asked softly, stroking Blaine’s skin, just barely grazing those tragic bruises. Blaine had said that the man had taken him hard. “I really don’t want to hurt you, ever.”

“I don’t think you’re capable of hurting me.”

Kurt took off his shirt and pressed their bare chests together, turning them onto their sides so that they were perfectly face to face and he was able to look into Blaine’s eyes. Kurt made quick work of the rest of his clothes, shamelessly undressing himself and playfully dancing about as he made sure he had everything he needed. He then returned to the bed and finished undressing Blaine, pressing their naked bodies close to each other and wrapping Blaine’s legs around him.

Blaine whimpered helplessly, a lost yet overjoyed look on his face. Kurt brushed his fingers across Blaine's cheek, realizing how in love with the boy he was. Kurt grabbed the bottle of lube in one hand and expertly squirted some onto the fingers of his other. “The first time we were together, you made fun of me for prepping you too much,” Kurt remembered, smiling as the memory hit him. That time, they were having sex, this time, they were making love. He slipped a lubed finger in between Blaine’s legs and teased him.

Blaine moaned, rocking back, trying to get Kurt to penetrate him. “As I recall, I later rescinded that teasing because you had reason, being huge and all.”

Kurt finally pressed one digit inside of him, rolling his eyes at Blaine’s compliment. “Don’t you know that it’s not the size of a guy, but what he can do with it?” he asked, his eyes sparkling. He couldn’t help joke and play around. He had never felt so in his own skin with a man as he did with Blaine. He twisted his finger, spreading the lube around. He added another, watching as Blaine fell apart, clinging tighter.

“You can do a lot with that, Mr. Hummel,” he teased.

“Call me Kurt.”

Kurt leaned down and kissed him, slowly dragging his fingers in and out of the other boy. Blaine clung to his every motion, breathing going deep. Kurt withdrew his fingers and squirted more lubricant into his hand. He slipped on a condom and stroked himself a few times. He was always going to be a little cautious about preparing.

“Please be inside of me.”

“How eloquent,” Kurt said, pressing his lips to Blaine and guiding himself inside. He knew that it was cheesy, but he felt absolutely at home as he moved inside of Blaine. He gasped softly, knowing that he looked like a lunatic with his mouth hanging open and grasping for any flesh he could touch, but he didn’t care. This was real, this was love.

“Blaine, you are beautiful,” he said, moving slow, touching anywhere he could reach. “You are beautiful and perfect and I love you.”

Blaine looked into his eyes and Kurt could see the relief there. He believed every word that Kurt was saying, possibly for the first time in a long time.

He touched Blaine, kissed Blaine and made it all about getting Blaine to that peak. It was about loving Blaine but it was also always going to be about Blaine loving himself. They had a lot left to do but when Blaine came, falling apart, he loved himself for a moment and that was a great start. It felt amazing.


	11. Interventions

Kurt did not plan on having guests the next morning but he found it hard to deny Tina when she called. He always found it hard to deny Brittany and Tina both. Mike was still in town and the girls wanted him to see Kurt’s home before he left. He had to give it to them because he didn’t have very many off days, but he wasn’t exactly sure how Blaine felt about it. If the way his face went pale indicated anything, the boy wasn’t exactly in love with the idea and Kurt immediately felt guilty for proposing they come over.

“I can leave,” he said softly. "I know that your friends are really important to you and you should enjoy your off day."

"Nonsense," Kurt said softly. "I want you to be here, alright?”

He felt even worse however, when they arrived and Tina and Brittany immediately gave Blaine a knowing look. They knew who he was and what he was. Blaine flinched under the heavy gazes, but then Brittany lunged forward and pulled him into a tender hug. "I know who you are," she said softly, her voice low, like the voice of someone who was telling a deep secret. "Kurt's in love with you. You make him shine brightly like he's never done in his entire life."

Blaine gaped at her like he wasn’t sure what to say. He looked back over to Kurt with a look of panic at that was so pathetic it melted his heart. It was a pretty common reaction for someone who had never met Brittany before, but still, Tina was quick to intervene and shake Blaine’s hand. It was amazing how Brittany and Tina had come to complete each other over the years. Kurt would have never guessed when they were kids. “I have to agree with my girl here,” she said softly, “but enough of that. Nice to meet you, Blaine.”

“I recognize you,” Mike said quickly, looking Blaine over.

“You must be mistaken,” Blaine said softly, looking Mike over as well.

“No,” Blaine said. “You’re the guy who Kurt was talking about at Tina’s shower. He said that he was interested in a guy who went to Dalton. I had this casual friend, Wes Kim, do you know him? He was in the West Central Ohio Asian Society and everything. We used to sometimes hang out. When Kurt told me he liked a guy from Dalton I asked Wes and he practically had a heart attack.”

“Oh, I do remember him,” he said. “I don’t really remember when he and I attended anything together but that’s cool. You have a really good memory, man. Wow.”

Mike nodded. “It’s a talent.”

Brittany coughed and looked at Kurt. She spoke very abruptly and purposefully. Kurt could practically see the wheels going off behind her eyes. “Kurt, could you show Tina the new designs that we worked on last Friday? She really wanted to see the children’s clothing line you’re working on.”

“Um, yes, sure,” he said. “Mike, Blaine, will you be alright for a moment?”

Mike nodded and Blaine smiled awkwardly. “Yes, we so have to catch up,” Mike said. “I always thought Dalton was so cool. It was a shame you couldn’t go there Kurt.”

“Mike and Blaine need to have some guy-talk, trust me,” Brittany said softly, grabbing Kurt by the arm before he could answer Mike. “Tina, when our baby is older she’s going to have to wear a lot of Kurt Hummel originals, alright?”

“Of course,” Tina said with a strange expression on her face. “Kurt has been designing baby clothes since I showed him the first sonogram. There is absolutely no way that we are not going to have the best dressed baby in the entire country. The baby’s godfather is going to make sure of that.”

“Of course he is and not just the best dressed baby in the country. I’m talking entire world here.” Kurt teased the girls but kept looking back toward the bedroom, wondering why Brittany insisted so intensely that Mike and Blaine talk.

Kurt showed Tina the clothing designs, not really sure why Brittany had been so adamant about her seeing them there and now. When they returned, Mike and Blaine were talking rather animatedly though, having apparently formed a tentative friendship, so maybe Brittany knew that Blaine needed a little bit of positive interaction in his life. Kurt wouldn’t put that past Brittany. She was very intelligent beneath all the things that could only be dubbed as Brittay-isms.

“Mike,” Brittany said softly. “Can you help Blaine stop being a prostitute?”

Kurt stared in shock and horror. Tina grabbed Brittany’s arm instinctively, glancing around her with a look of horror that Kurt was certain mirrored his own. Mike stood between Kurt and Blaine and glanced at Blaine, then back to Kurt, confused. Blaine took a sharp inhalation and backed up toward the wall. His eyes watered up and Kurt was certain that he was going to cry. His face immediately flushed with humiliation. Oh my god, why had she said that? Kurt loved Brittany to death and tolerated a lot from her but even he was ready to scream.

“Brittany,” Tina snapped. “Can I have a word with you?”

Tina pulled Brittany into the hallway, rather forcefully out of embarrassment, and Kurt was left standing between Mike and Blaine. “Blaine, I’m so sorry about her,” he said softly. “Sometimes Brittany says things and she doesn’t think about them. She really doesn’t mean harm though and I know she didn’t mean to hurt you. She’s a very good girl, she’s just painfully slow and she doesn’t have any social censors at all.”

“I…why would she say that? Why would you tell her stuff like that?” Blaine glared at Kurt and then looked at Mike and shook his head. “I’m…sorry,” he whispered quickly. “I’m…I like talking to you Mike. I don’t want you to be disgusted. Please don’t be disgusted.” Blaine was rambling, uncontrollably, practically shaking as he stood there. Kurt helped him over to the couch and then shot a look at Mike that begged him to be sympathetic and kind. “I’m so disgusting. Oh god, why would she say that?”

Mike walked around the couch. “It’s Brittany,” Mike said softly. “She’s the sweetest thing in the whole world but sometimes she says things that don’t make sense. I just…Blaine, you went to Dalton Academy and…that was one hell of a rich school. Is she…um, right/ I don’t exactly understand. Are you a prostitute?”

Kurt shot Mike a glare, almost wanting to slap him too. His face flushed with humiliation and he couldn’t even begin to say sorry to Blaine. Blaine, however, looked over at Mike and then looked away. “Yes,” he said, looking away from the other two. “Kurt is trying to help me but I’m trapped right now. I don’t know why that Brittany girl would ask you to help me, but right now I’m trying to get out. I’m going to be better. Kurt’s proven to me that I can be better.”

Mike looked at Kurt and Kurt nodded slowly. “I…I can help maybe,” he said softly. “Maybe Brittany was onto something.”

“What do you mean?” Kurt asked quietly, his head jerking up.

Blaine shook his head.

“I don’t know what that crazy girl is on,” he said. “Nobody can really help me, alright? They’re going to kill me when I try and get out of my contract with them and I can’t do this.”

“My business is located in Ohio, where my uncle lives. I’m in charge of Human Resources at the moment. I think that I actually have the means to help. I was just telling Brittany and Tina on the way that I need to hire a couple of people on a temporary basis. It’s in Ohio, so…yeah. Blaine, I would love to take on a new set of hands.”

Blaine looked at Kurt and then back to Mike. “I have no experience,” he said softly.

“It’s alright,” Mike said.

Brittany and Tina then returned. Tina still had a very tight grip on her girlfriend’s arm. The blonde just looked pleased with the world, as always. “Did Mike hire Blaine?” she asked happily. “I knew he would.”


	12. Departing words

“I’m scared to leave you,” Blaine admitted, lying on his stomach at the end of Kurt’s bed. He looked up at Kurt with the saddest eyes that Kurt had ever seen. He was haunted by something, maybe a lot of things. “Getting out of the city is probably my best bet; I have to admit it, Kurt. Your friend could give me a legitimate job and with a little money maybe I could get the education that I’m missing. Maybe I could do some good with myself. It’s the best thing for me, but oh my god I am scared of leaving you.” He chuckled softly. “I’m so freaking’ dependent, it’s stupid.”

“I’m dependent too,” Kurt said clearly. “Trust me Blaine; you’re the only thing that I can think about. You’re all I can think about anymore but your safety is far more important than I am. You’re in danger and you need to be kept somewhere safe for awhile.”

“I know Kurt. I’m just so scared.”

Kurt smiled and very gently brushed Blaine’s hair out of his eyes, scooting down to the end of the bed and laying next to him. He ran his hand over Blaine’s back, watching the muscles there tense up nervously. “I’m scared too,” he admitted softly, “but Blaine, I think that fear has been holding you back for a very long time. You’ve been in this horrible position, terrified to move and now you have a good chance to move. You can’t let fear get in the way of a great opportunity to move forward.”

Blaine leaned into his touch. “I have been controlled by fear for a long time,” he said. “This is like a dream, really.” He laughed some as he considered something. “That Brittany girl, she’s not really stupid is she? She’s just socially awkward but she…she knew what she was doing. She knew that her little slip up was one that could save me.”

“I totally think so,” Kurt agreed. “That’s why I think she’ll make a great mom. Both of my girls will.”

Blaine reached over and pressed his lips to Kurt’s. Kurt loved when Blaine initiated contact. It felt so good and yet it made him feel close to tears all the same. He loved this man so damned much and he had never loved someone in that way. When Blaine initiated contact Kurt knew that it was real.

Kurt pressed his lips to Blaine's again, very gently curling his fingers around the other boy's chin to tilt his head back. He loved kissing Blaine now that it was no longer an act of desperation; kissing Blaine was now purely an act of love. "I love you so much," he said softly. "Honestly, I can't get over how much I fucking love you and how good it feels. I love you Blaine Anderson." He smiled at the finality of those words, especially in a time where he and Blaine were heading into certain uncertainty.

"I love you too Kurt," Blaine uttered quietly. "Kurt, I...I just want to tell you something."

"What is it?" Kurt asked.

"I have felt dirty from the moment I took my first client," he said softly. "I have felt so many different versions of unworthy and damaged that I can't even begin to explain it to you. I still feel dirty and unworthy honestly, and sometimes I want to scrape away my skin just to get rid of the things that I've done with guys who only used me for money. You, Kurt, you saved me. You've restored some of the worth that I thought would never come back to me. I'm doing this because I love you and I want to feel the worth that you give me every single day of my life if I can."

"Blaine," Kurt whispered, choked up. He tried not to cry but he knew that he was a done deal when the tears began to fall. "I promise that it’s going to be okay then we can live our lives together. Once we get past this hurdle we can be together." He knew that he and Blaine could survive anything because that was just who they were.

-

The airport was bustling with life.

Mike sat in the limousine Kurt had ordered for them and gently pat Blaine on the shoulder. He looked at Blaine and then at Kurt sympathetically. His gaze returned to Blaine though before he began to speak. "You're a tough guy Blaine," he said softly. "I can tell you that right here and now. You're gonna be fine and hey, you'll be home in Ohio. Catching up with friends might be nice. I bet there are a lot of people you knew in Ohio who probably want to talk to you. I got the impression there definitely are people out there who missed you.”

"I dunno," Blaine mumbled thoughtfully. "I miss Wes, Thad, Nick....a lot of my old friends but that was another world. I'm just the weird dude who vanished my senior year. I bet they don’t even remember me.”

"I doubt that, plus, old reunions can be fun."

"Maybe."

Kurt hugged Blaine close, smiling. He felt like he was going to crash inside but on the outside he was all smiles for his beloved. Mike slipped over to the side of the limo to give them their moment. "I'm going to miss you like crazy," he said softly, sadly. "You call me from Mike's house okay?"

Blaine nodded.

Mike looked between the two boys sympathetically. He was trying to give them a moment but had to chime in. "I've got Skype and a webcam set up in the den," he said softly, despite his attempts to stay out of the sad departure. "It'll all work out."

"You're a saint," Kurt told Mike.

"An Asian Saint?" Mike joked, calling back to high school and his reputation as pretty much the single Asian boy at school. It made Kurt smile despite the fact that he was absolutely devastated.

"Definitely."

"I'll make sure Blaine is safe," Mike assured Kurt.

"And I got Brittina on my side," Kurt told Blaine, using his playful name for the girls.

The limo stoped and Blaine stopped before getting out, kissing Kurt desperately. "I love you."

"Forever."

The limo took Kurt back home with nothing to look forward to but the work he desperately had to get done.


	13. Chapter 13

Kurt could not help throw himself into work after Blaine left. It was how he distracted and comforted himself when he felt like he was losing control. It wasn't a bad idea, honestly. Kurt was running a fashion empire and falling in love with Blaine had been a huge distraction and put a dent in his productivity. He came back and worked hard when he was lonely, stressed and concerned. It was good for business but bad for his mental health. He got a lot of work done. He worked as hard as he could and a lot changed. Brittany could tell that he wasn't doing so well though so he tried to avoid her. He was lonely and tired and he wanted to get things done. He wanted to make things work while he waited for Blaine to come home to him.

It was good, productive, and it helped Kurt get closer and closer to his summer line's release. Kurt did not stop until he received a blow to the face and a reminder that before he sent Blaine to Ohio with Mike, his beloved was in danger. He had known that Blaine was in danger. That had been why he sent him away, after all, but it had never been so real until he got that reality check.

One Saturday afternoon, a stern looking older woman came to his door. She looked Kurt over, sniffed and huffed out a question. "I'm looking for a young man," she said. "He's short, with curly dark hair. I've seen him around these parts from time to time. He may have been a partner of yours or something like that."

“Short, curly haired you say?” he asked, laughing. In that moment he really had to put on his Kurt Hummel face and remind himself that he wasn’t even in his mid-twenties yet and he was an ultimate success. He knew how to command an office filled with people and he could put some woman down and away from him. “Sorry, lady but that is so not my type.”

He rolled his eyes in a way that he knew was very stereotypical of a gay fashion designer but he was putting on an act here. He may have chosen fashion over his other passion, which was musical theater, but he always knew how to act and do a good job of it. He could convince her, even if she knew that he had requested a prostitute from her business, and often. “Yes, you must have. Hope you find your boyfriend or whatever though.”

Kurt realized the fact that Blaine got out of his life just in time. He realized it in the deepest, most terrifying way. He realized that Blaine was safer where he was but honestly, Kurt just wanted to hold him. After that encounter he retreated back into himself and thought about how lucky Blaine was to be far away from the dark world that he had lived in all of his young life.

He emailed Mike almost immediately after meeting with the woman. He was at work and didn’t dare risk calling and talking to Blaine or else he would have absolutely sobbed, he missed him so damned much.

To: mikechang@changglobal.net  
From: khummel@hummel.net

Mike, hey, it’s Kurt.   
Is he with you right now? Can you ask him if he knew this scary looking old woman back in New York?

Thanks.

Kurt.

Kurt didn’t even dare use Blaine’s name. He knew that it was laughable that here he was acting like he was in a spy movie, but he just wanted to take care of Blaine. He just wanted to make sure that Blaine was safe and know what his beloved had gone through all of this time. He received a quick reply from Mike’s email, but it was Blaine, not Mike who had typed the message.

From: mikechang@changglobal.net   
To: khummel@hummel.net

Kurt. It’s me, Blaine. Mike told me to just use his email and tell you this. She’s the owner. Oh god I’m so glad I got out of there. She won’t target you will she? No, that would risk the business being exposed. I think you’re okay.

I miss you. I love you.

So, yes, Kurt was absolutely, positively convinced that Blaine was in the safest place possible for him. He was safe and he was probably learning a lot from Mike who was an intelligent and capable man. Blaine was in the best place he could possibly be but Kurt was not in the best place mentally at all. Kurt missed Blaine so much that it hurt and he was killing himself with work in the other man’s absence.

During one late night, Brittany admitted she worried about him. “You’re not the same Kurt,” she said softly. “I know that you miss Blaine and it’s normal to miss him when he’s away but you’re working too hard so you don’t have to think about him. It really won’t help you any to not think about him. It will just make you think about him more if that makes sense.”

“Yes, that makes sense to me, Brittany,” he said softly, smiling sadly. “It’s just really hard for me. I love him like you love Tina, remember?”

Brittany nodded. “I know,” she said.

“How is Tina?” he asked, desperate to make the conversation about anything but himself, Blaine and his lack of coping strategies for dealing with Blaine’s not being there. He knew that Brittany would oblige him when he asked about Tina because Tina was the most important thing in the world to her.

“Tina is great,” Brittany said, her eyes lighting up. “The doctor told us that the baby is going to come any day now. Tina feels really good too because she’s not sick or anything anymore. She says she just weighs a million pounds and gets tired dragging it all around now.”

“She’s a tough girl.”

“She so is,” Brittany said, stars of admiration in her eyes. “I’m really nervous about the baby coming but she’s not at all. I think that maybe it’s because she’s actually carrying the baby. It must make her a little bit braver.”

“I’m sure she’s scared too Brittany,” Kurt soothed. “I mean it’s a huge deal. It’s natural to be scared when you’re having kids.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Brittany smiled at Kurt’s statement, comforted. Kurt truly believed what he said. He admired his father more than any man in the world for dealing with him and wasn’t sure he would ever be prepared to be a parent. It was the biggest job in the world and he admired those who did it with such strength and grace. Brittany and Tina were strong girls though.

They talked about the baby for a little while and then the new designs that Kurt had just shown. Brittany always had fantastic ideas but didn’t have many of the practical skills to design. That was why many of Kurt’s works were shown as HummelPierce designs. Brittany might not have had the practical skills for design that he did but she had this imagination that nobody he’d ever met had.

“Do you remember a lot about high school?” Brittany asked idly, while they thumbed through the million sketches.

“Yes,” he said.

“Isn’t it weird that Mike was Tina’s boyfriend in high school but I don’t remember much about him?” she asked.

“Well Mike didn’t talk much,” Kurt said, closing the portfolio. It was about time for both him and Brittany to get out of the office anyway. He really didn’t want to be talking to Brittany about the man who was with his Blaine at the moment but he had nothing else to do. “He was really quiet. He told me later that he was very shy and found it difficult to talk and stuff.”

“He’s very sweet,” Brittany said. “I’m lucky that it’s me with Tina and not him anymore.”

“Everyone ends up where they’re supposed to be,” Kurt said, trying his best to believe his own wise set of words.

As they were packing up, Brittany’s cell phone rang. Kurt looked over at her, wondering if she was going to answer it but the girl just stared at it in a mix of shock and horror. “B, your phone is going off,” Kurt said, wondering if she had heard it the way she looked like she was totally spacing out. “Brittany?”

“That’s Tina’s ringtone,” Brittany whispered softly.

“And?” Kurt asked, not getting it.

“Tina told me that she would only call me at work if it was…time,” Brittany whispered.

Kurt urged the phone into her hand. “Here sweetheart, answer it.”

“Yes? Oh my god Tina. I…what do I do?”

Kurt immediately sprung to action and took the phone into his hand. “Hi Tina,” he said. “It’s me. I’ll drive Brittany over to the hospital right now. No problem sweetie.”


	14. New life, new hope

Kurt immediately drove Brittany to the hospital. The whole way, his best friend was absolutely _panicking._ “Oh my god Kurt,” she said, wringing her hands anxiously. It was difficult for Kurt to drive with her freaking out like that, but he ignored his nerves in favor of getting his best friend to the hospital quickly. “I’m not ready. I’m so not ready yet. Tina and I haven’t prepared enough.”

 

“Sweetheart,” he said, taking a single moment to look at her before his eyes were back on the road.  He wanted to be there for her as best as he could. “Brittany, I need you to take three very deep breaths for me. It’s going to be fine. You and Tina have made every move to prepare for your little girl’s arrival. You did everything that new parents should do.”

 

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Brittany did exactly what she was told. She took in two very deep breaths, followed by a shorter one and was calmer in minutes. Sometimes, when Brittany got worked up, she forgot to breathe and of course, this time, she had something to be worked up over. “See?” Kurt said, comforting her as best as he could. “You’re going to be fantastic Brittany. You and Tina are so good.”

  
They arrived at the hospital in record time. Brittany jumped out of the car the moment that Kurt stopped it, running out ahead of him. Kurt followed her just in time to hear her rambling at the receptionist. “Her name is Brittany Pierce,” Kurt explained to the nurse, clarifying everything. “Her girlfriend is having a baby today. Her name is Tina Cohen-Chang.”

 

They were immediately led to Tina’s room and Kurt was able to watch the girl’s reunite with a smile on his face. It was definitely a thankful distraction from all the painful thoughts that had been dominating his head. Tina was a wreck, her face incredibly pale and her hair hanging down over her eyes. “Kurt,” she whispered out, as a contraction hit her hard. She reached for Brittany’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “Thank you so, so much for bringing Brittany to me. I…I didn’t know what to do.”

  
“It’s no problem sweetie,” he said, leaning over and giving her a kiss on her sticky forehead. “You just worry about bringing my godchild into the world, kay?”

 

“Deal,” she rasped.

 

Tina was in labor for hours. It was apparently always longer for a woman’s first child and Kurt nearly drove himself crazy with the waiting that came with it. He stayed at the hospital the entire time, mostly as support for Brittany, because he could do very little for the woman in labor. It was incredible, the whole thing that was happening, and it made him wonder if one day he would ever have a child.

 

It was seven thirty in the morning the next day when he was finally introduced to his godchild.

 

“Her name is Larissa,” Tina said softly, before looking away from him and back up at Brittany.  There was so much love between those two.

 

Brittany smiled back and nodded. “We’re going to call her Rissa for short,” she explained to Kurt. “Larissa Elizabeth Cohen-Chang. Say hi to goddaddy Rissa.”

  
The baby was so beautiful. Kurt had never seen such a beautiful child, especially not such a beautiful newborn. She had Tina's eyes but for now they were bluer. She had fairer hair and she was very, very calm for a brand new baby. She stared blankly up at her mother with those pretty dark blue eyes that would probably be darker one day. "Hello Rissa," he said softly. "I'm your goddaddy Kurt. How are you this beautiful evening?"

 

Tina adjusted the baby in her arms. “Hold her, Kurt?” she asked gently.

 

Kurt nodded and Tina passed the tiny bundle in her arms to him. He took her and stared down in awe. She was absolutely perfect. The child lifted her head and yes, Kurt Hummel was absolutely won over by a baby.

 

“She’s a lot smaller than anything I ever imagined,” Brittany admitted quietly, hugging Tina from the side. “It’s almost scary how tiny she is.”

 

Kurt understood that basic fear the moment he got her settled in his arms. “Rissa,” he said, surprised at the way tears were filling his eyes. “You, my dear, are destined to be the best dressed baby in the whole wide world. Rissa Elizabeth, little princess of the Hummel empire.”

The baby's soft coos were just captivating. "Here," he said softly, handing the tiny child back over to her mother. He wrapped his arms around himself and smiled. He knew that he should be happy. His godchild had just been born, after all. Rissa was the perfect child and Tina and Brittany were so happy. Kurt did not mean to ruin their moment with his depression; he just missed Blaine so much already that the beautiful moment was hard to relish in the right way.

"I'm going to leave your mommas to get acquainted with you Rissa," he cooed at the infant. He then leaned over and kissed Tina's cheek. He turned on his heel and walked swiftly out of the room, beginning to cry the moment he was far enough away. He could not handle all the happiness.

He went home as fast as he could get there.

 

He knew that he was a selfish bastard for feeling so badly during the best moment of his best friends’ lives, but it was hard to deal with happiness when you were just so depressed. He went home, showered and logged onto his computer. Something happened, however, that worked pretty well to take the depression away. He got home to immediately see a video chat request from Mike Chang.

 

He accepted it and Mike’s face appeared on the screen, along with Blaine’s. “I just got the text from Brittany that the baby was born,” Mike said. “I saw you were online. What’s going on Kurt?”

 

Kurt smiled and waved at them. He met Blaine’s eyes. Blaine looked amazing. He had cut his hair and had definitely been eating well over the past days with Mike. He looked healthier than he ever had in the entire time Kurt knew him. He remained quiet while Mike waited for news of the baby, polite and not wanting to intrude. Kurt admired that about him because god, he himself was bursting inside.

 

“Six pounds and ten ounces, Larissa Elizabeth Cohen-Chang,” he said softly.

 

Mike broke into a huge smile that Kurt had to notice, even with his intense focus on Blaine. “Oh that’s fantastic,” he said. “Tell the girls that I’ll come down as soon as I can to meet her. Ah this is so awesome.”

 

“That is awesome,” Blaine mumbled politely.

 

“I’m sure you’ll be receiving a billion pictures from Brittany any minute now,” Kurt said, knowing that it was the truth. Brittany was the type of mother who would take a picture of her child’s every waking moment. Kurt would be that kind of parent too, if he had a baby.

 

Mike very gently nudged Blaine closer, in front of the camera. Blaine looked up with a sheepish smile on his face. He seemed nervous. “Doesn’t he look fantastic Kurt?” he asked, showing Blaine off playfully. “It’s amazing what a couple weeks good care can do. He’s got some color to him and everything.”

 

Blaine blushed heavily at that, lowering his eyes.

 

“He looks amazing,” Kurt said quietly. He could not deny the healthy, happy glow that he saw on Blaine. He looked alive. “You really do Blaine. I miss you so much but I am so glad that you got out.”

 

Blaine met Kurt’s eyes. “Thank you so much Kurt,” he whispered. “You gave me the courage to escape the life that was killing me and come out here where it’s safe. I could never do this if not for you. It means so much to me.”

 

Mike smiled even brighter and then stood up, gesturing for Blaine to sit in the direct view of the camera. “I have got work to do,” he said. He very likely didn’t but he was definitely trying to give Blaine and Kurt some alone time. “I’ll be back in a little bit. You two probably have a lot to catch up on. Make sure you tell him _everything_ you’ve been up to lately, Blaine.”

 

With that, Mike Chang was out of the room. Blaine looked at Kurt, smiled, laughed and nearly looked like he was going to cry. “I’m so overwhelmed,” he admitted breathlessly. “I don’t even know Kurt, I don’t even know.”

 

“How are you doing?” Kurt asked. “That’s a good start, right?”

 

Blaine’s eyes lit up. “I’m doing well,” he said honestly. “Mike’s giving me a lot of work to do and I’m keeping very busy. I opened up a savings account the other day and am starting to actually save money. Mike’s been showing me ways that I can get a GED and stuff, so I can go to school or something…it’s…it’s all happening fast and I’m a little bit overwhelmed. I’m…this is good Kurt.”

 

“I can see it in your eyes,” Kurt said seriously. He wondered if Blaine would ever come back to the city, even if he was safe. He could make a life in Lima, so close to where he had grown up. “Have you seen any of your school friends?”

 

“I have plans with two of the boys I sung with in school,” he mumbled softly. “It’s going to be awesome Kurt.”

 

“You look so, so amazing,” he breathed. “God, I miss you.”

 

“I miss you too Kurt,” Blaine said tenderly. “As much as I love it here, I can’t…I can’t wait to come home.”

 


	15. Confidence.

Kurt smiled softly, phone cradled against his ear. "I miss you," he told Blaine. It was getting to the point of obsession and the loneliness was making him crazy. Still, they had little moments like this where they could talk on the phone. It made things at least a little bit more bearable for Kurt to be able to hear Blaine’s voice on the other end. "How are you doing sweetheart?"

Blaine's breathing on the other end was heavy and he didn’t seem too well. That immediately put Kurt on alert. "I'm okay Kurt," he said. His voice was deep and he just sounded so tired; what was wrong with him?"How are things back home? How is Brittany and Tina's baby doing?"

"Rissa is the most fabulous baby to ever live, of course."

"I didn't doubt that with a godfather like you."

Kurt smiled at Blaine's words, but worry kept creeping back in, even as he tried to use their conversation to ease the ache in his chest. Something wasn’t right. "Yep," he said. "She's the cutest thing ever. But baby, you sound tired. Are you okay?"

There was a long pause and Kurt could hear a change in Blaine's voice. There was a pause and a waiver. "I'm just stressed out," he muttered. "I've been tired lately from all this work and well, my hanging out with friends didn't go so well."

“What happened?” Kurt asked, surprised to hear that. He had assumed Blaine’s old high school friends would be overjoyed for the reunion with the boy who had pretty much disappeared from their lives.

“I’m just not that kid anymore,” he admitted softly. “I…I used to have this kind of confidence. The group I sang with, The Warblers, we had so much confidence. I had so much confidence. I’ve lost it Kurt. I’m not that kid anymore. I don’t have confidence in myself and the slightest thing puts me on edge. My old friends, well, they sensed that.”

“Oh baby, I’m so sorry…”

“I keep thinking I can be that boy again, but evidently, I can’t.”

“You’ll get your confidence back, Blaine,” he reassured the other boy. He needed time to get out of his old mindset, his old life, but he would be alright. He would find the confidence.

“Maybe.” Blaine’s response was so soft that Kurt barely heard it. He did speak up again though and that Kurt heard clearly. “I guess, I have hope that I’ll find my confidence again but I’m never going to be the sheltered kid who ran from bullying and found my confidence at Dalton Academy. That kid is dead.”

“Oh Blaine…”

Blaine didn’t seem to be able to stop once the words started coming from him. “We’re from such, such different worlds now,” he said. “I mean, god, I was a sheltered rich boy and now my friends are all sheltered rich men. They have no idea what a hundred bucks means to a guy who has to get fucked to earn it.”

“I know Blaine.”

They talked for awhile, mostly about mundane things and Kurt could tell that Blaine was not well in the slightest. There was something tired and listless about the way that Blaine was talking to him. Even when they talked about good things, the job, the way he was feeling more independent, Blaine was still quiet and apathetic, not offering more than a small answer.

When Blaine seemed about ready to go, Kurt had an idea. “Blaine, sweetheart, I need you to get some rest,” he said. “Can you put Mike on the phone? Tina needed to tell him something and I wanted to pass it on.”

Blaine gave Mike the phone moments later. Kurt couldn’t even manage a greeting before he asked what he wanted. “Mike, what’s wrong with Blaine?” he asked softly.

Mike was quiet for a moment except for his heavy breathing. Kurt could hear him moving, probably getting away from Blaine. “I think that Blaine is going through some kind of posttraumatic stress, Kurt,” he said softly. “I’ve noticed it more and more lately and seeing his friends seemed to make it worse.”

“What can we do?” Kurt asked. It was logical, that Blaine would not come out of years of prostitution unscarred but still the idea of some kind of trauma affecting Blaine in this way.

“I don’t really know,” he said softly, “but Blaine and I have been talking about taking him to a doctor for a health screening and I’ve added a mental health screening to that. He needs all that after years of what he’s been doing. He needs to be checked for STDs, sicknesses from his living conditions and a number of other things. If he gets a mental health screening I think that he’d benefit from a psychologist or someone just…helping.”

“That makes sense,” Kurt said softly. “I…I just didn’t begin to consider that Blaine would have all of these things going on. I feel so badly for him. He’s…exhausted.”

He could not imagine all of the things Blaine was going through. He had never thought about Blaine having to deal with the effects of prostitution. He could have any number of STDS and his mental state was less than perfect. He was deteriorating and suffering and Kurt was stuck in New York, unable to do anything about it.

“Kurt, I’m going to take care of him and give him anything I can,” he said. “I know that Blaine means everything to you. Over these last couple of weeks he’s slowly become my best friend. I’m not going to let him struggle like this without some help. I promise.”

Kurt nodded, knowing that he could trust Mike. Still, he had been planning on taking the weekend off and now he was sure that he was going to visit Blaine. “Can I come up this weekend?” he asked. “I’ll stay at a hotel; I just really, really need to see Blaine.”

Mike seemed brighter at that. “I think that’d be great,” he said. “Oh and Kurt, I’ve also been talking to my lawyer and if you get good security on your place, Blaine is safe. There is nothing an illegal prostitution ring can do to keep their prostitutes in line, at least legally. Illegally, yes, things have happened but I don’t think Blaine is worth the losses. If he is, well, you have to keep secure.”

“Thank you Mike,” Kurt said softly. “Remind Blaine I love him.”

“Will do.”

Kurt immediately went to plan for the weekend. He had to get back to where he belonged.


	16. Reunion

Kurt flew out that weekend to be with Blaine feeling a mixture of emotions. He was excited to go to Ohio for the weekend, see his family and be back with the man that he loved; he was hopeful, determined to do something to help Blaine out of his funk; he was also very worried about Blaine. He was conflicted on how to act and what to do but he knew that above all he needed to be in Ohio.

Mike had said he was sending someone to pick Kurt up at the airport. Kurt stopped, surprised when he saw that Mike had sent a limousine. The driver opened the door for Kurt. He got in and he wasn't alone; he swore that his heart stopped in that moment.

"Blaine!" he yelled, throwing his arms around the boy. He practically tackled him to the seat and wrapped his arms around him tightly. He buried his face in Blaine's shoulder and breathed deeply. "I missed you so, so damned much."

He looked up and really saw Blaine for the first time. His beautiful brown eyes were sparkling with unshed tears. He looked exhausted but at the same time was well groomed and healthy looking. That was good. "I missed you too Kurt," he said. "Mike wanted to give you a surprise and I couldn't resist."

Kurt smiled at him, still holding on tightly. "I don't like being away from you," he said, unable to let go just yet. "I don't like being apart."

"Neither do I," Blaine soothed. "This has sucked so badly."

Finally, Kurt managed to pry himself away from Blaine. He looked into the eyes that he had fallen in love with. “It’s barely been a month and I miss you so much that it’s been hurting,” he said. “I’m so lovesick.”

“I’m the same, Kurt.”

“You have to tell me everything,” Kurt said, stroking a hand down Blaine’s arm. He wanted Blaine to tell him everything, good and bad, about what he had been doing at Mike’s. Missing him there hurt Kurt far too much.

Blaine gave a halfhearted smile at his enthusiasm. “It’s been awesome,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot about the business from Mike and he’s…well, he’s a really good friend. You know, you and I have to find him a boyfriend or girlfriend sometime. I think he’s really too lost in his work.”

“I know how that is,” Kurt said, tilting his head to the side sweetly. He could tell though that Blaine wasn’t really in the mood to talk about Mike. “Are you really okay Blaine?”

Blaine shook his head from side to side and Kurt saw the tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He reached forward for a hug and Kurt pulled him into his arms, comforting him without words. He wrapped his arms around him, so glad that he was here for now, to comfort Blaine when Blaine truly needed a friend and more.

“I’ve started to have really bad nightmares,” Blaine admitted softly, his voice muffled by Kurt’s clothing against his face. “I’m sick at myself Kurt. I’m seeing how it is to have a normal life and I’m sick at all of the things I’ve done. I’m angry at myself for not trying harder. If I had taken my parents for one more semester, I would have graduated high school and god, maybe I could have at least found a minimum wage job to slave in. I just…I resorted to prostitution so quickly and I hate myself.”

Kurt shook his head from side to side, trying to be gentle and encouraging. “Blaine,” he said. “You may have had more luck if you stayed with your parents longer, sure, but you didn’t. Things didn’t go that way and you did everything you could have. There’s no room for regret in life, you know that? You can’t regret what got you into that horrible, horrible position because you’re free now.”

“I would have never taken you as a big proponent of fate Kurt,” Blaine said harshly, though Kurt knew Blaine wasn’t out to hurt him.

“I’m not,” Kurt said plainly. “I’m just saying that your dark path led you to a better place.”

Blaine shrugged off his comfort. “I have a doctor’s appointment,” he said, after a long period of staring off into space. “I’m really scared of going Kurt. They’re going to test me for STDS and stuff. I tried to use condoms every single time I could but sometimes the clients were aggressive, demanding. What if I caught like HIV or something? You’d never love or want me if I was diseased…” Blaine’s voice broke. “Why do you even want me now? I don’t get it!”

That broke Kurt’s heart. He moved over to the seat opposite Blaine’s so that he could look the boy he loved in the eye. “Blaine,” he said harshly. This forced Blaine’s gaze upward. Blaine looked him directly in the eye. “I love you. I didn’t even know that I was capable of loving someone until I met you. I never felt that way about anyone and was starting to think I was incapable. You’re beautiful, loving, compassionate and brave. That is why I want you and more importantly why I love you.”

“I’m just a whore,” Blaine whispered, tears flowing freely now.

Kurt breathed in deep, those words upsetting him so much. “You are so much more than that,” he said. “Prostitution is a horrible thing and if you have to hate yourself for doing what you had to do, then I should hate myself for calling an escort service shouldn’t I? Shouldn’t I be feeling guilt for being one of those scumbags who utilized down on their luck guys who didn’t have better?”

“But you’re not like that Kurt,” Blaine whispered. “You’re wonderful and you were lonely.”

“See?” Kurt said sweetly, brushing a hand along Blaine’s cheek. “We can’t justify each other’s faults without bringing our own down. The past is past and you and I are going to move forward.”

The moment that Kurt said those words, the limousine stopped and both boys quieted. The driver opened the door for them and Kurt let Blaine get out first. Mike was waiting in front of his house. “Did you like my surprise Kurt?” he asked, crossing his arms and chuckling lightly. “I figured that you couldn’t resist.”

Mike definitely noticed the tears in both of their eyes but he didn’t say anything.

“I definitely couldn’t resist,” Kurt said, smiling brightly and taking Blaine by the hand. Blaine clasped his hand tightly and Kurt felt better. “You gave me everything I ever wanted.”

He reached into his bag and dug around for a moment. “I have a present for you Mike, from Tina,” he said. He found what he was looking for and handed it over to the other boy. It was a framed picture of Mike and Kurt’s godchild with the name Larissa Elizabeth scrawled across the bottom in gold lettering.

“Ah I have the cutest godchild ever,” Mike gushed. “Thank you Kurt.”

“Not a problem,” he said, giving Mike a small smile.

Mike showed Kurt to the room Blaine was staying in. “You don’t mind sharing, do you?” Mike asked, very well knowing the answer.

Kurt turned to Blaine and smiled. “We don’t mind,” Blaine said, finally speaking up.

“I’ll leave you alone.”

When the door closed behind them, Blaine looked up at Kurt. Kurt pressed his lips to Blaine’s in a long, much awaited kiss. He sighed happily through it, pulling apart and looking Blaine in the eyes. “I don’t want you to see yourself in a negative light anymore,” he said softly. “I know that I can’t fix it in one second and it’s going to take a long time but I want you to know that I’m here and I love you.”

Blaine sat down on the bed and Kurt sat down next to him. “I missed kissing you,” Blaine said, a soft attempt to deflect from the problem at hand but Kurt accepted it. He knew that Blaine needed a little bit of affection and love too.

Kurt kissed Blaine again, knowing that they had more to make up for. Blaine wrapped his hand around Kurt’s cheek and pulled them together tighter. “I miss other things too,” Blaine said shyly. “You know that?”

Kurt blushed a little. “Is this place private?” he asked.

Blaine nodded. “Mike’s room is way across the house and…well I miss you Kurt,” he teased.

Kurt drew Blaine in for another kiss, this time reaching underneath his shirt and running his fingers over the familiar lines of Blaine’s chest. “I never needed someone like I need you,” he mumbled. “It’s kind of ridiculous what an addiction you’ve become, but I really like this addiction. It’s not something I’m ever planning on giving up.”

Blaine was kind of passive this time, something Kurt wasn’t used to, but Kurt lifted Blaine’s shirt over his head anyway, latching onto his neck. He sucked and bit lightly at the spot that he knew was a sensitive one for Blaine. Blaine moaned. Kurt ran a hand down his chest to touch lightly, enjoying the touching and the way that Blaine seemed to fall apart underneath all of the sensations. He needed release and Kurt would give it to him.

Kurt got Blaine’s pants off just as quickly as he did his shirt, undoing the buttons and sliding them down his hips, right along with his underwear. “I missed every beautiful inch of you,” he said, kissing down Blaine’s jawline onto his chest. He let his tongue trail over every inch of skin that it passed, enjoying the taste of his lover’s body. Blaine’s fingers in his hair made it that much hotter.

When he got low enough he slipped off the bed and pulled Blaine into a standing position, dropping to his knees and taking Blaine into his mouth. Blaine had given him a blowjob before but he had never done it for the other boy. He wrapped his lips around the other boy and took him in a little deeper, learning as he went along.

“Oh my god Kurt,” Blaine breathed out. Kurt just smirked inwardly and twisted his tongue over the tip. Blaine bucked up but Kurt had him by the hips so that he didn’t thrust in too hard. He moved his head up and down as he worked Blaine over, fingers dancing over the part of his hips Kurt was gripping. He sucked him off vigorously, all of his thoughts about worshipping, adoring the boy that he loved.

Blaine came quickly, leaving Kurt a sputtering mess for just a second because man, you really didn’t expect it when it hit. “Perfect,” Kurt purred softly, grinning as he looked up into Blaine’s eyes. “I think that we’ll meet up with my family tomorrow. Tonight is going to be all about making Blaine feel good. Do we have any condoms or lube? I really want to make love tonight.”

Blaine was so dazed, his eyes unfocused and his breathing heavy. “I think,” he mumbled. “I can look.”

It took a moment for Blaine to recover before he could go look. He disappeared into the bathroom, Kurt watching the naked boy with hunger in his eyes. Kurt got up and stripped off his own clothes, having forgotten that in his desperation to please Blaine. Blaine returned with both lube and condoms and a sheepish smile on his face. “These weren’t in the bathroom yesterday,” he said. “I think Mike…”

“Nice,” Kurt said, laughing. “Blaine, you top okay?”

Blaine met Kurt’s eyes and Kurt smiled. Kurt would never forget how much it meant to Blaine that his first time topping was with Kurt. Kurt leaned over and pressed his lips to the boy’s and then dragged him back to the bed, crawling on his lap.

Blaine took care of Kurt expertly, reaching down between them to finger him, slipping his lubed finger past Kurt’s entrance while Kurt was distracted by the frantic making out. Even though Blaine had teased Kurt during their first time together for over prepping Blaine, Blaine didn’t cut any corners making sure that Kurt could take it easily.

He slipped on the condom and fuck, when he was inside Kurt it was like everything was total completion. Kurt wrapped his legs tighter around Blaine and rocked against his thrusts, on top at first and then on bottom when Blaine rolled them around and frantically thrust inside of him. He thought he was going to explode to orgasm without being touched.

He did get touch though, Blaine just barely brushing a hand against him as he came. That was enough. Kurt’s eyes went blurry and he was completed. “I love you Blaine.”


	17. Hope

The next morning, Kurt took Blaine to meet his family. “You’re going to love them,” he reassured Blaine, even though the other boy looked as though he would be sick any minute. They had talked after they finished making love about what they called themselves and had decided boyfriends was best. They were more than boyfriends, of course, but yeah, that was as close of a word as they would ever get. “My stepbrother is even going to drive over so that he can meet you too.”

Blaine was pretty quiet until they got to the house. When they did, Kurt found his parents both waiting at the door. “Kurt,” Carole said excited, wrapping her arms around Kurt and holding on tightly. “Oh my goodness you look fantastic. It’s been way too long.”

“It’s been a long time,” he said.

Kurt let her go and then immediately saw his father. He lit up. It was hard living away from his father. They had always been so close and Kurt was overjoyed to see him. He gave his father a long, lingering hug and then pulled away. “Carole, Dad,” he said. “This is Blaine, my new boyfriend.”

Both of them appeared confused.

“Yes, I know,” Kurt said, laughing softly. “I, Kurt Hummel, now have a boyfriend. The time has finally come.”

Blaine smiled at the couple. “It’s really nice to meet you guys,” he said. “Kurt’s told me a lot about you and I know that he has a really good relationship with his family.”

“Awesome, well come inside,” Carole said, leading the two inside. “Finn said that he’ll be here soon.”

The house was a little different than Kurt remembered it last. He had always teased Carole about decorating but the woman was great at it now. He reached over and held Blaine’s hand as they went to the living room and sat down. “Can I get you boys something to drink?” Carole asked brightly. Blaine immediately shook his head.

“Water, thanks so much,” Kurt said, staying close to Blaine. Carole grabbed Kurt some water and then sat across from him. His father was the one to ask the question they had both been dreading.

“Where did you two meet?”

“We met at work,” Kurt said quickly. It was a lie but there was no other option but lying when it came to this. “Blaine recently came back to live in Ohio to get closer to some people from his past and is staying with Mike. Do you guys remember Mike Chang?” They nodded affirmatively. “I was so glad to get a chance to come here and visit you guys and see Blaine. I also really wanted to introduce you to each other.”

“What are you doing for Mike?” Burt asked softly. “He’s a good kid; he has a good business.”

“I, um, well I’m pretty much acting as an assistant right now,” Blaine explained. He was so uncomfortable and Kurt wished he could do something to relieve that but he couldn’t.  
They talked for awhile. Kurt smiled at the conversations that passed, thankful that Blaine was becoming steadily more comfortable. Blaine seemed to really get along with his father, which was awesome. They honestly had a lot more in common than Kurt and Burt did; this was something that bothered Kurt as a teenager, but not so much anymore. Blaine was pretty well versed on sports and cars and kept his father's attention. His father even at one point said, "Kurt, I think you got yourself a keeper at last." Kurt was happy they liked him.

Finn arrived about an hour after Kurt and Blaine did. The taller boy looked frazzled as he entered but immediately rushed over and hugged Kurt. "I had to come and see ya man," he said. "It's not every day that the fabulous Kurt Hummel gets himself back to Lima, after all."

"True," Kurt said softly, hugging his stepbrother. "Finn, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend Blaine."

Finn smiled. “Hi,” he said awkwardly. Finn was really friendly but Kurt often found he was uncomfortable with strangers. That probably helped Blaine, because he was uncomfortable too. “It’s nice that Kurt’s finally met someone he really cares about. I don’t think I remember the last time that he had a boyfriend.”

“I think that’s a running theme,” Blaine said, smiling at Kurt.

Kurt nodded. “I haven’t done that well with relationships in the past,” he consented. “It is gonna be a running theme because nobody gets what’s going on with me so crazy about you and all.”

Things went nice for the rest of the meeting. Carole made them a fantastic dinner and Finn and Blaine hit it off very easily. Kurt watched them talk and actually wondered when the last time was that Blaine had friends to talk to. It was sad to think that having someone like Finn to talk to could be something Blaine didn’t have much experience with.

After dinner, Finn and Kurt went to clean up for their parents. Blaine wanted to go with them but Kurt’s father insisted they talk some more. “That’s why we had kids, let ‘em do it,” he joked to Blaine. Blaine smiled and shot Kurt an apologetic glance. Kurt went into the kitchen with Finn.

“So Kurt,” Finn said, as he brought the dishes to the counter, “Blaine seems like a really nice guy.”

“He is,” Kurt said, unable to hide the dreamy smile on his face. He may not have been sixteen anymore but Finn knew when he fell in love. Finn recognized the look in his eyes. “He’s the sweetest thing and was so nervous about meeting my family. I’m so glad you guys all hit it off well with him. He was terrified.”

“He’s great,” Finn said, rinsing off the dishes and putting them away. Kurt remembered a time when Carole had to nag Finn like crazy to get him to do just that. “He likes a lot of the same stuff you do but different stuff like sports all the same. He’s also really nice to hang out with. You picked an awesome guy, Kurt.”

“Think he’s cute?” Kurt joked.

“If I liked guys, sure, I’d say he was cute,” Finn joked. Kurt gently shoved his brother, loving that they could talk about this stuff now. They had come a long way from when they were teenagers and Kurt’s sexuality was a point of tension between them. “Let me just say that for you, you picked the perfect guy.”

“So I have big brother approval?”

“Sure,” Finn said. “C’mon I got the dishes. Let’s go back and make sure that Mom and Dad aren’t harassing the poor guy.”

When they came back, the conversation seemed to be a little bit deeper and meaningful then it had been when they last left. “I see,” Burt said seriously, nodding. Carole was at the side of the room but listening to what Blaine said just as intently. “Well, I’m glad that I could give Kurt the best I could as far as all that stuff goes. I’m sorry it didn’t go the same for you Blaine, you seem like a great kid.”

Kurt smiled. His dad had this way of making people light up and Blaine seemed very happy. This was confirmed later when they headed home. “Your dad is really awesome, Kurt,” Blaine said shyly, looking up at Kurt when they reentered Mike’s house. “I’m just…really floored at the relationship you guys have. It defied the fact that you have very different personalities.”

Kurt nodded. “I used to wish that Dad and I had more in common but I learned when I got older that we created our own bonds,” Kurt said, patting Blaine lightly on the shoulder.

“I think he could tell that I had some…hard times,” Blaine admitted, “though I’m sure he had no idea what.”

“He’s definitely a good go to person for hard times.”

Blaine hurried back to the room Mike designated for them, sitting down on the bed. “I’m still nervous about seeing a doctor and everything but I feel much better too,” Blaine said. “Hopeful, even.”

Kurt smiled. Hope was good. He felt hopeful too.


	18. Ending...not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Does that sound like an ending? No? That'd be because a sequel approaches.

Kurt and Blaine arrived at the doctor’s office pretty quickly the next morning. Once they were there, Kurt learned something new about the man he loved; he learned that Blaine was very afraid of having his blood drawn. The other young man leaned back against the seat as the nurse took his blood, giving Kurt a sweet smile even though his face was deathly pale. It was cute in a pathetically endearing kind of way. Blaine clenched his hand for the nurse, who wrapped a tourniquet around his bicep. Kurt took the hand of the arm that wasn't having blood drawn and held it, close to his chest. Blaine looked relieved. "So, sweetheart, when we get back to New York, I am going to have to teach you everything about the business," he said brightly. "It's been going strong for a couple of years now but it's still pretty small."

Blaine nodded, trying to focus on Kurt rather than the needle. He looked at Kurt with very intense eyes. Kurt forced himself not to wince when the nurse poked through Blaine's skin. Blaine was lucky it went in on the first attempt; Kurt remembered vaguely how many attempts it took to draw blood when he was a child. "I really admire you Kurt," he said. "Everything you’ve done is admirable. You're so young but your business is already promising."

"It’s kind of part of a vow I made to myself in high school," Kurt said, watching with some degree of nausea as Blaine’s blood began to flow up into a long, winding tube. "I was always the bullied, beaten down kid. I promised myself that I would succeed and they'd all be working for me. I promised them they’d all hear my name again.”

"Chances are if they haven't, they will," Blaine said, smiling.

The nurse withdrew the needle and pressed a rounded bit of gauze to the wound left behind. She bandaged Blaine up expertly, giving him a tiny smile. "We’re all done," she declared and Blaine breathed a sigh of relief. Kurt kissed his cheek, just a way of acknowledging his irritation and frustration. She led them into a room. "The doctor will be with you shortly."

Blaine smiled at Kurt, awkwardly but gratefully. "Hate doctors," he mumbled low.

"Me too," Kurt said and he wasn't lying for Blaine's benefit. Doctors and hospitals, he hated them and they always reminded him of losing his mother as a child and his father's heart attack in high school. He reached over and held Blaine's hand, knowing the power of that comfort. "Me too; I hate them so much."

They waited for awhile, quietly; Blaine kept tapping on the counter with his leg and Kurt couldn’t sit still for more than a few seconds. They were a nervous pair - that was for sure. Before long a doctor arrived: he was a tall man with graying hair who shook both of their hands. "Hi, I'm Doctor Larson. Mr. Anderson?"

“That’s me,” Blaine said, shrugging.

Kurt watched, quietly, while the doctor gave Blaine a full physical examination. Blaine looked quite uncomfortable and Kurt felt horrible but he knew this was more than needed. Blaine had not seen a doctor in quite some time and wasn’t feeling that great as it was. He needed this. The doctor pressed a stethoscope to Blaine’s chest and listened intently. Blaine followed his commands and breathed in deeply. The doctor frowned. “I’m going to order a chest x-ray. You seem to have a bit of a chest cold. Have you been feeling alright lately, Blaine?”

“A bit tired,” Blaine mumbled tensely, shifting away when the man removed his hand. “I figured it was just because I moved and…have been under a lot of stress.”

“Well, we’ll sort you out,” the doctor reassured him gently. “I’m also told you’re seeking a reference to our mental health offices?”

Blaine nodded his head reluctantly. Kurt squeezed his hand for support.

“Alright, I’ll sort that right out for you.”

Blaine mumbled his way through the rest of the appointment, Kurt sitting at his side. He had chest x-rays done that revealed an intense cold and was given some antibiotics but all was well. When they finished, Kurt took Blaine by the hand. “Are you ready?” he asked his boyfriend snapping out of his daze.

“Yep,” Blaine said, flashing Kurt a gentle smile. “They’ll call with the results of the blood test in a few days and I have to go to that…erm, shrink…next week but that’s okay. There’s a pharmacy next door and I’ll put in the prescription for these pills. Things are starting to look really good, aren’t they Kurt? I mean, even if they’re not good, at least we’re starting to sort things out.”

Kurt nodded, still holding Blaine’s hand in his. “They are,” he said brightly. “Do you think that it’d be safe for you to come back to New York pretty soon?”

Blaine paused as they exited and went out to the car Kurt borrowed from Finn. Blaine climbed into the passenger seat and Kurt got in as well. “I think so,” Blaine said with a bright smile that melted Kurt’s heart. “I think that maybe I was just dealing with a lot of silly fear.”

“I think so too,” Kurt said, starting the car. “Let’s go back to Mike’s. I promised him we’d all meet up for dinner tonight. Let’s enjoy this and then we’ll sort out the rest of the details, alright?”

“Alright,” Blaine mumbled.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, so much.”


End file.
